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Semper Fidelis
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Me and my friend Eric at the 2004 Marine Corps Ball
at the Marine Corps Memorial in San Francisco
Hello, John! -- I just received the March 2005 Crawford newsletter and was delighted to see the photos of the retired Colt teachers, particularly of Coaches Sams and Romig. I also noted with interest the photo of my neighbor across the street in the 60's, Diana Loss Dwyer, who -- I believe -- dated my older brother John briefly. It was with some envy that I read John's retirement notice in this issue. Meanwhile, I'm still plugging away as a golf pro at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club in San Jose, CA, with absolutely no prospects of retirement anytime soon. What would I do with myself? Play golf???
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The "Skipper" and I in Vietnam
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A New York Times/AP Wirephoto of LZ Loon
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I was a member of Platoon 1009 at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, the San Diego City in Motion Platoon. Recently, I communicated with a fellow Class of '66 Crawford alumnus, Jaye Froelich Koehler, who visits your site. She married one of my boot camp brothers, Lee Koehler, a graduate of Clairemont High. Sadly, Lee passed away in 2003.
Many of my long-lost Marine brothers are finally coming out of the woodwork after 37 years. I began searching for them with the help of my best Vietnam friend Jack McLean and our commanding officer, then-Captain and now retired Lt. Col. Bill Negron. Jack was a classmate of George Bush at Phillips Academy at Andover, MA, and later a classmate of Al Gore's at Harvard. The Skipper suffers from Survivor's Guilt, another form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Many of the guys that we've found are riddled with PTSD and other demons, and some are barely functional physically or mentally. This note published in the Phoenix Gazette Memorial Day 1999 served as the impetus for our search.
We've had reunions, but my first was in San Diego September 14, 2001. Many couldn't get there because of the flight restrictions following the World Trade Center disaster. Nonetheless some of us are in constant contact. The bonds formed are like no other found in life.
A US recovery team recently recovered and identified the remains of all of the Marines killed on June 6th, 1968, whose bodies were not recovered (BNR). My commanding officer and I, along with our platoon Corpsman, attended the Palacios funeral in Artesia on November 8, 2008 and the subsequent military honors burial at Cypress Forest Lawn. It brought much needed closure to the families and to us. One family in attendance had buried their Marine in 1968, only to have more artifacts recovered on this mission. They had lots of questions that we were able to help them out with.
P. S. -- I noted with great interest an email you received from Steve Carlin, Class of 1965. Steve was an Army Medic attached to the hospital ship USS Repose floating off the coast of Danang, South Vietnam. I was medevac’d there in November of 1968 with malaria. Steve took me under his wing as I convalesced. It was great to have someone from home to talk with and to share all of the current music albums he had. I just wanted to give him a shout out -- Thanks, Steve! You made what was an otherwise-miserable 18 days fun! Much appreciated, amigo!
Dan Burton
Charlie Company, 1stBattalion 4thMarines RVN '67-'68
San Diego City in Motion Platoon June-August 1967
Crawford High - Class of 1966
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