On @JesterPolitics Tuesday spaces we always open with a “hero” – an American service member who did extraordinary things and often received a high honor such as the Medal of Honor or Service Cross. But @Jaxxsun3 – a wise man – always says, there are many true heroes who never receive a medal or public recognition. They just go about fighting day after day and looking after others as best they can. Jack is right. Thinking about what Jack said got me into a nostalgic mood so I thought I would do something I’ve never done before…post about a Marine who was known as “the Greek.” No one, not even the Greek, knows how he got that nic, but I suspect it’s because his last name is hard to pronounce. Well, that and calling him “that son of a b***” would result in the sudden and painful onset of tooth loss.
The Greek was the 4th child of 8 kids born to immigrants from what at the time was the Austro-Hungarian empire and today is Slovenia (Grandma) and Croatia (grandpa). He was to young to serve in WW II, but due to some friction involving fists, he dropped out of HS and enlisted in the Marines…not long before the Korean War. Luck being no friend of most, the Greek ended up fighting in Korea, notably at the battle of Chosin Reservoir. If you’re not familiar with that battle – also known as “Chosin,” “Frozen Chosin” and the “Reservoir” – then you might want read up on it…it’s a story of mass heroics done on a daily basis for 17 days mostly by the Marines of the 1st Division, but also by the Army’s 31st Regimental Combat team and some South Korean and British troops. In this battle an estimated 30,000 allied troops faced an estimated 120,000 Chinese troops. The Army’s 31st Regimental Combat team was almost completely wiped out.
The Greek was an infantryman with 1/1 – 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. I won’t spoil the ending, but the last 7 days of the battle was a fighting withdrawal that was successful. That battle cost of 7,418 casualties. Hell, in one 38 hour stretch the Marines lost 103 of their men killed in action and another 506 wounded. The Chinese casualties are estimated at 35,000 to 45,000.
After Korea the Greek stayed in the Corps and while he enjoyed some stateside duty, got married, and had a family of 5 kids, he also found himself off fighting in Lebanon a couple of times. Often “peace time” in the Corps is not so peaceful. Towards the end of his Marine Career, the Greek once again packed his sea bag and headed off to war, this time in Vietnam.
In Nam, the Greek was assigned to 1/26 (1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment). From January 21 to April 14, ’68 the 26th fought at Khe Sanh, another iconic Marine battle. The two major differences I can tell between Khe Sanh and Chosin is first, Kha Sanh was hot and Chosin was freezing. And second, at Chosin the Marines were surrounded by Chinese; at Khe Sanh they were surrounded by North Vietnamese regulars.
He survived all of that and never received a medal for valor, but I think he and all those who have been shot at for us show valor on a daily basis…regardless of the medals they are awarded.
The Greek did not talk much about his combat experience. But one night I was having beers with him – it was the weekend before I graduated from law school – and he looked at me and said: “I’ve held a lot of dying Marines in my arms. Everyone of them cried for their mother. Not one of them cried for their father. Remember that.”
Why do I remember these words of his like they were spoken yesterday? Well, because he spoke them to me years after he and my mother went through a rather nasty divorce. He was telling me, in his way, to always respect and love my mother over him. So with that I’d like you to meet the Greek – my Pops – one of the hard men who made our good times possible: