TWS Helps Marines Reunite 50 Years On
Fifty years ago a group of young men from all over the country met for the first time at MCRD Parris Island and became Platoon 361.
On April 3-5, 2014, eight of those men - I and 7 others - along with our wives, met for several days in Savannah GA to celebrate a 50-year reunion of our going through boot camp together.
We graying Marines (left to right Bill Mize, Tom Hunley, Bruce Washburn, me, William Hullender, Aubie Camp and James Aman with Tom Mintz seated) gathered for the first time on Thursday evening, and it was a very emotional meeting. 
The stories that were shared were powerful and a testament to the courage and strength shown by several who have survived for 50 years with demons resulting from their time serving their country.
Naturally the conversation turned to the old days with me starting the discussion by telling them how I missed going to Vietnam. They all thought I was the lucky one. After me, a very low key James Aman told how he and Aubie Camp were together on Hill 41. He said he went out on a night patrol and was wounded. That was it. After him, Tom Hunley told about his time in Vietnam and how he was there with one of our platoon members when he was killed. It was quite an emotional story.
After Tom, it was Aubie's time. It was so hard on him. He told Aman he was "glad he made it." After that he tried to tell about the night he earned the Silver Star but he broke down. Even a couple waiting to catch the elevator stopped to listen. We all just sat in silence for a couple of minutes. You could have heard a pin drop. It was very emotional.
We then went around the table to Warren Hullender, Tom Mintz, Bruce Washburn and Bill Mize. They were all in the war but nothing to compare with what Aubie and Tom Hunley had to tell. Sharing these emotional and powerful memories with Marines that we served with so long ago was truly a meaningful and healing experience for us all.
We got up Friday morning, ate breakfast, loaded up in cars and drove over to Parris Island.
It was a fun day, in ways that we could not have imagined 50 years earlier. We went out to the rifle range and were shown the new way to learn how to fire a rifle. It looked just like a video game. Of course, they still fire live rounds too, as we saw and heard. Perhaps the highlight for many of us was visiting our old barracks. That 3rd Recruit Training Battalion building was only a few years old 50 years ago. Today it and the rest of those old brick barracks stand empty, awaiting the demolition crew.
As we climbed the stairs, all the memories started to flood everyone's minds. We were reminded of how we had to run up and down those stairs. The pull-up bar was still in place and so was the linen closet we all stuffed in. The old head looked much the same too.
The only real difference from 50 years ago was the addition of air conditioning...and the silence and emptiness of a squad bay that had once been filled with young lads becoming men.
As we stood in the old squad bay with all the memories there, our thoughts turned to five members of Plt. 361 that did not make it home. Staff Sgt. Edward Gould, who was one of our Drill Instructors, Cpl. James Beasley, Lance Cpl. Charles Day, Lance Cpl. Richard McVayand and PFC William Main.
We saw the old mess hall, company headquarters, and the grinder where we wore out the heels of our boots.
We also talked with some of the young Marines of today. After listening to them, we were all sure the Corps is still producing Marines we can all be proud of. They were as interested in our time as we were theirs.
Saturday morning it was time to say goodbye, with everyone wanting to do another reunion next year. Since I was the one who did a lot of the legwork for this reunion, I guess I'll start working on it sometime in the fall. We have also found a couple more members of our platoon that want to come to the next one.
The idea for a reunion began a couple of years ago when I found Aubie Camp on the TWS website. He, Warren Hullender and I met for lunch and soon the idea of a boot camp platoon reunion came up.
After our lunch we started looking for more members of our platoon on the TWS website. After we found other members of our platoon, I sent an e-mail in December to see if there would be any interest in having a reunion. I received replies from everyone wanting to do one but no one knew quite how to go about organizing one.
Since I have had some experience arranging these type of things, I volunteered. I made the hotel reservations and set up the tour at Parris Island and together with input from the others, came up with the date.
I am firmly convinced TWS website brought us all together, without it we would have never connected. It is well worth the effort to find the people you served with and TWS is the tool for making those connections.