Warren "Tom" O'Hara III:  

Majored in Partying 101 and flunked the academic portion of College in '67-'68. Dad was hot and rightfully cut off my end of the dinner table. Drafted in the Army shortly thereafter in June '68. Enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve instead. Went to an eight week resident Boy's School off of Ribbon Creek in South Carolina called Parris Island. Had "Duck" for the first time-"Duck-in" & "Duck-out" of the Chow Hall-left hungry. Learned to eat real fast and lost the Freshman 15 pounds! Started running 3-miles on a regular basis. Major wake up call! Grew up quickly thanks to some tough no nonsense Staff Non-Commissioned Officers. Found out that the earth, moon & sun did not revolve around me. Transferred to Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, FL for an Aviation Fundamentals Course. Met two guys in the Navy (Squids) from SHS Class of '66-small world. Trained in a aircraft pool dunker-think quick and follow the bubbles-up! Got my first "Gang" Tat. Went to my first Jai Alai game. Ate alligator for the first time-chewy chicken. Next duty station was NAS Millington, TN for an Avionics 'A' Course. Learned about electricity (E = I/R). Ate catfish, hush puppies and frog legs for the first time, along with some good old Southern pulled pork BBQ & ribs-Memphis style. Sure beats Scotty's, Gino's & White Tower hamburgers. Drank White Lightening (shine) for the first time compliments of a young Southern Gal from Memphis-learned to sip not gulp ! Also learned to say "You-All" & the meaning of "That's Nice" & "Bless Your Heart". Found out the difference between a "Yankee" & "Damn Yankee". Became an Avionics Technician repairing communications/navigation electronic equipment on F-4 Phantoms, A-4 Skyhawks, & CH-53-A Sea Stallion's while stationed at NAS Willow Grove, PA-now closed. All of these aircraft above have gone the way off the Dodo bird-extinct. Went back to school with a new found commitment-especially since I was now paying for it. Graduated "Cum Laude" from CCDC. Completed College at West Chester State with a degree in Secondary Education-History. Decided not to go into teaching-the inmates were running the asylum at Haverford Jr & Sr HS where I student taught. Drugs were rampant and both school administrations were in complete denial. Got married in my spare time. Commissioned in '73 & went back into the Marine Corps instead and became a Grunt (Infantry). Went to Viet-Nam and several other exotic dung hole places that God forgot. Participated in the evacuations of Cambodia (Operation Eagle Pull) & South Viet-Nam (Operation Frequent Wind). Had 122 mm rockets and captured U.S. Army 8-inch artillery fired over our ground position targeting Tan Son Nhut Air Base-loud and scary. Observed an NVA air defense unit shoot at US aircraft-bad move. Every US Sky-jockey in the air piled on it with ordnance trying to earn that last Air Medal of the war. Total destruction & mayhem. Stupid is as stupid does. Saw the Defense Attache Office (DAO) brick building in Sai Gon implode and 'melt' when 300 pounds of thermite was set off in the buildings huge walk-in safe-destroying $3.6 M in 1975 US currency. Was one of 865 Marines & Sailors on this Op. Was the Helo Team Leader in the 4th from the last helicopter out of the DAO compound. Had an Gen-1 SA-7 SAM (Surface to Air Missile) shot at our Air Force CH-53 "Jolly Green" extraction helicopter. Thank God for an observant 1st Sergeant, a good Crew Chief and a near miss. Now that will get you heart thumping! Served several tours in the Infantry and Reconnaissance. Got to fly in almost every helicopter in the the DoD inventory. Survived two unintended landings-that will get you attention. Only the good die young! Completed Jungle Environmental Survival Training in the Philippines-living off of the jungle for a week. Ate well thanks to our Negrito ("little black" or "pygmy") Instructor Guide named Eking who was a WWII Freedom Fighter-a tough man who knew the jungle! He cut the head off of a Bamboo Pit Viper (hemotoxic) before it almost bit me-a big thanks to Eking, his quick reflexes & a very sharp Bolo knife! Learned alot about local folk medicine-what I saw worked. Ate Lumpia and Pancit for the first time-washed down by San Miguel-good stuff! Balut must be an acquired taste-not for me! Participated in two Cold Weather Training packages at the Marine Corps' Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, CA. Base camp is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at 6,762'. Training areas are at 11,000'+. Only way up or down for a Grunt in the winter is on foot, snowshoes or skis. Some of the best real world training I have ever experienced. Learn or freeze! This Cold Weather Training prepared us for a future winter operation in South Korea called "Team Spirit". Arrived in South Korea from the Philippines (90 plus degrees F) in January and stayed through March -landed in ice & snow on the same day. Our military cold weather clothing was left over from the 1950's & was lousy! Siberian winter winds are bone piercing cold! Try living in the "field" for several weeks at a time as a Grunt in that cold wind. Have a deep appreciation for what our Marines & Soldiers went through in the Korean War. The Korean people are tough hard working and hardy. Ate Kimchi and Calbi for the first time-good stuff! Soju is something else to be reckoned with. Saw puppies in local food stores-part of the local food chain-bow wow chicken. NE/SE/SW Asia, South America (SA) & Africa makes you appreciate being born and living in the United States of America where the lights work when you flip the switch 'on' and you don't have to filter your drinking water before brushing your teeth. Completed the U.S. Navy's SCUBA (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus-bubbles) School in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, HI & initial USMC UBA (Underwater Breathing Apparatus-no bubbles) dive school training in Quantico, VA. Got to go SCUBA diving all over the Pacific Ocean along with exotic sea life. Ever feed a four foot moray eel by hand with a sea urchin? Just have to be careful. They have a mouth full of nasty sharp teeth. Ever have a large barracuda attack your dive watch wrist band because it was shiny silver and looked like a bait fish? Not good-got rid of that wrist band real quick. Ever have a sea snake (neurotoxic) decide to go swimming with you? Didn't know I could swim so fast! Flew over a 1/4 mile mass of entangled sea snakes in the South China Sea during their mating season ritual while going into Viet-Nam-did not relish the thought of crashing into that teeming mess. Ever go diving in a known hammerhead shark breeding ground? They make their physical presence known quickly. They are a very large powerful & territorial fish! This occurred while as a student in the Navy's SCUBA course during a compass dive through their known breeding grounds in the West Lock of Pearl Harbor, HI. Was "bumped" three times and pushed sideways by some very unhappy hammerheads. Their skin feels like very fine sandpaper. Counted 17 fins when we got out of the water-builds character. Made four WESTPAC (Western Pacific) deployments overseas with 18 plus months spent living aboard the Gator Navy's amphibious ships. Ever ride out a typhoon in a flat-bottom LST (Landing Ship Tank) or take 12-feet of blue water over the flight deck of an LPH (Landing Platform Helicopter)? That's when you know you have your "sea-legs". Try keeping your food down or sleeping in your "rack"! Got to do this twice. Not fun! Crossed the Equator several times and became a "Shellback"-a ceremony to behold! John Belushi would love it! Right out of "Animal House". Saw a disabled Russian nuclear submarine in the Indian Ocean being towed by a Soviet USSR sea tug back to the Motherland. Our US Navy ship intercepted and cut the steel tow line cable with our ships bow in the name of good international relations! Not much love there-Anchors aweigh! Had the pleasure of being stationed at Kaneohe Bay, HI for three years-deployed twice aboard ship and was gone about two of the three years-some one had to do it. Lived across from The Valley of the Temples as the neighborhood 'Haoles'. Wife had a great time. Ran my first Marathon. Simultaneously saw six different rainbows flow off of waterfalls from the Ko'olau Mountains after intermittent rain storms on Christmas morning-a stunning view from our backyard 'lanai'! Just another shitty day in paradise. Mahalo. Went on a "Camera Safari" in Eastern Kenya to a place called Tsavo National Park. Saw two herds of Elephants converge on a watering hole-majestic. From an underwater observatory, saw Hippopotamus running along the bottom of a lake-their toes are webbed like a duck. Hippos are the most dangerous critter and number one killer in the African waterways. Saw Crocodiles in a river allowing monkeys to run across them like rocks-until the Crocs got hungry-snack time-one less monkey jumping on the rock. Crocs are huge and lightning fast! Saw hyenas and jackals feasting on carion-nature's clean up crew. Stayed at the Sarova Salt Lick Game Lodge (worth Googling). They have an underground observatory that leads out to several ponds with salt licks for the animals. Got to see a pride of Lions just feet away drinking water. Beautiful but dangerous cat-not a nice kitty! The rooms of the hotel are built up on concrete stilts over 40+ feet high-just enough so that you will not get bit by the giraffes eating leaves off the trees below you. First time I ever slept on a feather down mattress-just sucks you in-very comfortable. Bed posts were in containers of oil to keep the bugs from getting up the post. The bed was shrouded with a beautiful white mosquito net. Windows open a...Expand for more