Zane Smith:  

I had to think about this before I wrote and decided to start from '72, because I have been asked why my photo isn't in the yearbook. I attended Carson with all of you for our sophomore and junior years, but in late '72 my parents decided to move to Bellingham, Washington. I did not want to go, so ended up renting a room from someone. Unfortunately, I could not stay at Carson after October '72, because I could not drive the 20 miles each way every day with the job I had. Remember, Minimum wage was only $1.25. I have always considered Carson to be my school, and even went to the 20th reunion, where I shocked some people, because at the 10th reunion, someone had told them I was dead. Yup, killed in the crash of a USMC CH-46 helicopter. Now, I was sure I had not been killed in a crash, because, if I had been, the Marine Corps would surely have notified me. That is standard procedure when you are killed, the Corps always lets you know. So, how did I end up in the Marine Corps? I graduated from Miraleste High School, in PV, and was accepted to Cal State Long Beach on a Marine Biology Major when...remember what happened in late '72? The 1st Arab oil embargo cost me my job. No job, no school, some of you can probably relate to that, so I enlisted in the USMC and ended up working on and crewing the CH-46 helicopter ( I love that aircraft) for 17 years). I spent 18 months in Iwo Kuni, Japan, '74 to '76 and had a great time. I got married in July '75 (still am) and my wife spent a year in Japan with me. We had a great time traveling while we were there ( I love to travel) but in '76 I got transferred to New Orleans. I should have refused those orders and staid in Japan, but hey, hindsight is 20-20, right? I spent 18 months in New Orleans and then went into the reserves and moved to Mt. Vernon, Washington, where my dad had a boat repair shop. I worked with him for two years, while maintaining my Marine Corps affiliation by serving in a Reserve unit at NAS Whidbey Island. I ended up with my own business for three years, worked on boats and did some commercial diving, light salvage and boat repair stuff. I also completed almost two years of college. My wife and I also had the world's most beautiful daughter in October '81. In '82, the economy tanked and I went back on Active Duty. In January '83 and was sent to MCAS Tustin, in Santa Ana, CA, and spent the next 7 years there and at El Toro. My Squadron, HMM-164, went to Okinawa for 6 months in mid-83 and had a grand time flying, drinking, and eating Mongolian BBQ. We spent the next 12 months getting ready to go out on ship and in August of '85, the Squadron went out on LPH-3, the USS Okinawa. I still hate that pigboat. He spent 7 days in the Philippines, 10 in Fremantle, Australia, 7 in Singapore (that place sucked) and then 10 in Hong Kong, which rocked, before returning to the PI for 40 days. I weighed about 175 when we got back to Subic Bay, whe...Expand for more