Post by Bill Calhoun on Dec 27, 2006 14:28:03 GMT 8
I received a call from John Reynolds giving the sad news of John E. Mara's passing. 'Jack' was a very able officer, and my assistant platoon leader at one time. I thought a lot of him. Mara was one of the two who wrote substantiating affidavits for Lloyd McCarter's CMOH, opening himself to the extreme disapproval of Col. Jones.
On Negros as we moved up to pass through D Co., John came over to me to show me his legs. A mortar shell had impacted near him and both calves were covered with bloody spots from fragment penetration. I looked at him and asked him "What about your neck?" He said "What's wrong with my neck?" I was looking at an entry hole and an exit hole on each side in the posterior part of his neck. It had to pass very near the spinal cord. His legs were stinging so that he did not realize the bullet hole in his neck. Another great one.
John Mara, John Lindgren, and I had some wonderful visits at a few reunions -- John Mara did not come to many so we really enjoyed his presence. Like my visits with Roscoe Corder, when he came it was a real treat. Of the 2nd Bn officers who left Noemfoor Island on the USS Custer, only know of four who are still alive: Ed Flash, Tom McNerney, Roscoe Corder, and myself. Of course, some who have not participated in the Association may still live.
I am reminded of a Confederate War veterans reunion at Shreveport, La. about 1936 when I was a 14 year old Boy Scout. A group of Scouts helped attend to the old men. There were very few, perhaps a dozen, in their 90's, and all feeble. Even so, the senior veteran demanded that he ride a horse leading the parade. The doctors present said "No", but gave in when they feared he was going to have a stroke. Then it became the WWI vets who seemed so old to us during WWII. Now we are the ancients. So be it. The only regret I have is the treatment of our military today. Some of the dirty bastards guilty are veterans themselves.
On Negros as we moved up to pass through D Co., John came over to me to show me his legs. A mortar shell had impacted near him and both calves were covered with bloody spots from fragment penetration. I looked at him and asked him "What about your neck?" He said "What's wrong with my neck?" I was looking at an entry hole and an exit hole on each side in the posterior part of his neck. It had to pass very near the spinal cord. His legs were stinging so that he did not realize the bullet hole in his neck. Another great one.
John Mara, John Lindgren, and I had some wonderful visits at a few reunions -- John Mara did not come to many so we really enjoyed his presence. Like my visits with Roscoe Corder, when he came it was a real treat. Of the 2nd Bn officers who left Noemfoor Island on the USS Custer, only know of four who are still alive: Ed Flash, Tom McNerney, Roscoe Corder, and myself. Of course, some who have not participated in the Association may still live.
I am reminded of a Confederate War veterans reunion at Shreveport, La. about 1936 when I was a 14 year old Boy Scout. A group of Scouts helped attend to the old men. There were very few, perhaps a dozen, in their 90's, and all feeble. Even so, the senior veteran demanded that he ride a horse leading the parade. The doctors present said "No", but gave in when they feared he was going to have a stroke. Then it became the WWI vets who seemed so old to us during WWII. Now we are the ancients. So be it. The only regret I have is the treatment of our military today. Some of the dirty bastards guilty are veterans themselves.
William T. Calhoun (Col, US Army, Ret'd)