proportion of Marine Corps officers in the leadership of the combined Navy-Marine service branch.
Charles Krulak, a former Commandant of the Marine Corps, who originally pushed for an increase in Marine billets in the late 1990s, said he was pleased with the change and believed it reflects well on the class of midshipmen, despite an almost 25 percent decline in applications to the academy in recent years. "What I'm happy about is that midshipmen want to walk to the sound of the guns," he said, "whether it's on the sea, under the sea, in the air or on the ground. The people who are coming to the Naval Academy want to serve, and they want to be leaders." Col. Michael Paulovich, the senior Marine at the academy and director of its Humanities and Social Sciences Division, said he doesn't really have an explanation for the surge, except to emphasize what Marines have always emphasized: fitness, esprit de corps and leadership opportunities for junior officers: "That's the steady message that's always out there." Paulovich said enthusiasm for serving in the Iraq war also might reflect a strong "spirit of patriotism" among mids who came to the academy in the aftermath of Sept. 11. "I was here 20 years ago, and it was all Top Gun and Red October," he said. "We had to work hard to attract high-quality midshipmen" to the Marines. Dove and Joe Mihoces, another senior who will become a Marine, said their decision was due in large part to the |
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influence of 1st Lt. Mike Simon, a junior officer and 2003 academy graduate whom they befriended and who recently went to Iraq for a second tour.
The thrill of being in the action in Iraq or in any combat situation is something he and a lot of people think about, said Dove, 22, but it's not the primary consideration. "My father was a paratrooper in Vietnam, and talking to him definitely de-glamorizes what happens out there," he said of combat situations. "It's something that has to be done, and I'd like to be the one that does it. I'd like to be the one that leads Marines in a combat environment." Dove and Mihoces will go to the Marine Corps' Basic School at Quantico, Va., for six months. After that, Dove could be deployed and Mihoces will go to flight school in Pensacola, Fla., to join a smaller community of Marine Corps pilots. Although he won't necessarily be leading troops on the ground in Iraq, Mihoces said he is thrilled to be in the Corps. "You could take the pilot away from me tomorrow and I would still want to be a Marine," he said. By Bradley Olson, Sun reporter March 25, 2006 TAPS I received an email from Jeanette Alsup telling me that Jerry had passed on to his final duty station on high 14 July 2006, that he just went to sleep and didn't suffer. Jerry and Jeanette were regulars attending our annual reunions and we shall all miss them very much! I received an email from Al "Doc" Pankus 21Aug06 that Phillip V. "Doc" Morin |
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 Jerry Alsup & Jerry Hansen - Oct 2006 San Diego 10th Ann Reunion> reported on high 16Aug06. He served from 8/52 - 7/53 as a FMF Corpsman. "Dear Shifty: It is with deep personal regret that I inform you of the death of HM2 Hospital corpsman Phil served with me thru the battle of the "HOOK" - and was awarded the purple heart. He was a good "buddy" of mine, and was responsible for my joining the association. I attended his wake service in Brattlleboro, VT and his burial on Monday the 21st in Haydenville, MA. May he rest now in peace. This is to keep informed. Semper Fi! Al Pankus" CORRECTIONS TO ROSTER Zane Jewell's address 148 Arlis Ave, Dayton, TN 37321 Roland G. O'Con's telephone #830-367-2801 Ajiebo Ventrudo's telephone # 973-948-6822 NEW MEMBER Robert B. Stevenson - Joined 29Jul06. 3drSqd Mortars 10/50 -12/50 Wife Dorothy 13190 Maple Knoll Way, Maple Grove, MN 55369-4695 telephone #763-420-3465 Email: steo0120@comcast.net |
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