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"THE REMNANT OF G 2/5, WWII VETERANS WHO WERE ABLE TO ATTEND THE 2008 REUNION"

WWII G-2-5 20^th Reunion in Washington D.C.

May 21, 2008

Forty-five surviving G-2-5 members attended their 20^th annual reunion May 14-19 in Washington D.C. Some came with family, others with friends. Many active duty Marine generals were also there. We toured the Pentagon, with B. Gen. Raymond “Hondo” Fox, who graciously gave us a guided tour. He will be leaving in two weeks with his wife Cindy for Okinawa. We toured the National Museum of the Marine Corps and also Quantico where they make Marines into officers. We toured the base that hosts the Marine Helicopter Squadron One, the Marines who are responsible for transporting the President of the Untied States. Two of the helicopters did a flyover. We had lunch at O’Bannon Hall with B. Gen Larry Nicholson, Deputy Commanding General of the Combat Development Command. Nicholson will be leaving soon for his third tour of Iraq. We wish him well. He is looking forward to getting over there as he said his troops were getting bored with the lack of action.

We also had an evening parade with the Commandant’s own USMC Drum and Bugle Corps and the Marine Corps color guard. That night we were fortunate enough to watch the precision-disciplined Silent Drill platoon as they spun their razor sharp fixed bayonets within inches of each other’s faces. There was a lot of scuttlebutt and memories of old times. One outstanding memory came to use by one of our members. I need to put it in writing. It is about Unsung Heroes. One of our members, Nate Getzenberg, reminded us of a story we had all forgotten. In May, 1945, in the battle of Okinawa Pharmacist Mate 2^nd Class Bill Lynne went above and beyond the call of duty to care for a wounded Marine. We were under heavy fire from knee mortars and snipers when Bill Lynne heard the word “Corpsman!” He went to the wounded Marine who was struggling to breathe. Bill had seen a doctor while he was in training do a tracheotomy. On his belt the corpsman had an elastic tube that he wore so he could stretch it out. He cut the tube, made an incision in the wounded Marine’s throat and inserted the tube. The name of t he wounded Marine was Merle Isner. While Bill performed the surgery, he had another Marine hold Merle’s legs. After inserting the tube, the wounded Marine could breathe. He was evacuated to a hospital alive and breathing. Unfortunately, during surgery he succumbed to his wounds. Bill Lynne, under heavy fire, performed this emergency operation without any hesitation in order to save this man’s life. If eel that we dropped the ball by not seeing that this Marine Corpsman was not recognized. I will be sending a letter to the Commandant with all the dates and names and see tat this Marine receives a just commendation for this action.

At the finale of our reunion, we had our banquet a the exclusive Army and Navy Club where we heard a beautiful tribute to the men of G-2-5 written by the former Chief of Staff, Peter Pace. Three Marine Generals were at our dinner. We had an auction and raised a few thousand dollars, of which 50% is donated to the First Marine Division Scholarship Fund. I raffled off four autographed copy of my books Hold Your Head High, Marine. General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, B. Gen. Raymond Fox, B. Gen. Lawrence Nicholson, and our own G-2-5 member B. Gen. Gordon Gayle, autographed these books.

This reunion was planned by the children of members and was chaired by Carolyn “Hutch” Carino (daughter of the late Lt. Charles Hutchings), and co-chaired by Walter J. Parrish IV (grandson of the late Walter J. Parish II). The next reunion will be chaired by the three daughters of Samuel Burch and will be held in Lake Charles, LA, next May.