1953

Author David D. Ferman actually enjoyed Boot Camp in the spring of 1953. The Marines loaned him the best rifle that he had ever fired, gave him free ammunition, and let him shoot it for weeks at a time at the Camp Mathews rifle range. They also gave Dave three nutritious meals every day; some of which were fairy decent if you are not too picky or have a lot of condiments. With all of the calisthenics and other physical and mental exercises all day every day, Dave was in the best physical shape of his life.

While in Boot Camp, some optimist in the chain of command thought that Dave could become a decent infantry officer, so they sent him to Drill Instructors¿ School as the first phase in transitioning from enlisted to officer status while most of his platoon went to Korea to fight the North Koreans and Chinese communist hoards, which was the primary reason that Dave had joined the Marines.

As the junior DI with Platoon 205, Dave taught 75 recruits how to be Marines; shoot accurately at 200, 300 and 500 yards; and fight with pistols, bayonets and hand grenades. At that time, 12 enlisted Marines were chosen out of the entire Marine Corps to go to flight school to become pilots. Somehow, Dave was one of that dozen. No one was more surprised that Dave.

Dave became a Military Policeman (MP) and was transferred to Moffett Field for Advanced Combat Training with elements of the famous 5th Marine Brigade of the 1st Marine Division that had mauled three Chinese Divisions during the ¿Frozen Chosin Reservoir¿ campaign in the winter of 1950/1951. He could not have had better teachers or better examples. Semper fi.

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