![]() I was assigned to the A.D.B., Artillery Demonstration Battery. We were assigned to the Schools Demonstration Troops, S.D.T. Tommy had picked the Infantry, 0302 for his M.O.S. I had chosen Artillery, 0802 as an M.O.S. “Street Without Joy” now became standard reading for our class along with “Marine”, the story of Chesty Puller.īy December of 1964 the football season was over and we had been asked to stay at Quantico to play football for the 1965 season. This book told the story of the French debacle in Vietnam a decade earlier. I had read Bernard Fall’s book, “Street Without Joy” in college. We started to receive input about a small police action in a small Asian country called South Vietnam. There was one big difference about our tour at Basic School from previous classes. Tommy had been commissioned upon graduation from the Naval Academy. I had received my commission after nine weeks of Officer Candidate School. I looked at him, smiled and said, “Aren’t you the cute little thing.” He gave me his nastiest look and said, “And when was the last time you won a beauty contest you big brute?” I reached over and gave him my hand, “Gene Carrington, nice to meet you handsome.” He took my hand, gave me a big toothless grin and said, “Tom Holden.”Īt the time we met, we were both students at The Basic School. He had just removed his three front teeth and was placing them in his locker. I looked to my left and saw a rugged guy, about 6 ft. I had been invited to try out for the team and was standing in front of my locker. The first time I met Tommy Holden was at the start of football for the Quantico Marines in July of 1964. We were finally with our good friend Tommy again. For all of us, it was the culmination of a journey that had begun 35 years ago and half a world away. As we stood on the small knoll overlooking his gravestone we were overwhelmed by emotion. The ground was still damp from the heavy rains of the night before.
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