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The Coming Collapse of the American Republic
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WWII Marine Raider
Our granddaughter has been visiting. We signed her up for dance camp and for guitar lesson from the dance teacher's brother, Tim Vana. Tim saw my Marine cap and gave me a CD of a wonderful single he had recorded, "Always Faithful" in tribute to the Marines. (Copies are $5. Contact him at timothyvana (at) att.net). He told me about his dad, a WWII Marne and we asked to take them to dinner, which we did Friday night. It was a privilege for my wife and me.
Cpl. Dick Vana enlisted in the Corps early in WWII and volunteered for the Raiders. He was assigned as a replacement for Red Mike Edson's 1st Raider Bn. on Guadalcanal, arriving after much of the action. The Bn. saw action on Guam, where Cpl. Vana was hit in the head. He had just turned his head, by God's grace, and a sniper bullet pierced his helmet and grazed his head. He was treated, given a purple heart and returned to the lines the next day. After Guam, the Raiders were formed into the reconstituted 4th Marines, assigned to the 6th Marine Division. He fought on Okinawa for 99 days, which includes 17 days of patrolling after the Island was declared secure, during which members of his platoon were killed. He was wounded twice by shrapnel in each leg, but just pulled it out, bandaged it, and kept going. He didn't turn in to sick call, so received no Purple Hearts for these wounds. (Not the John Kerry type). He was training for the invasion of Japan when we dropped the A-bomb, saving his life.
Dick had been going steady with his future wife, Marion, since she was 13 and he 14. They married before he went overseas and he didn't see her for over two years. They made up for lost time, with ten kids, 28 grandkids and the 13th great-grand child is on the way. A great American family. She is gone no. Dick is 88, still driving, working a little, writing, reading and enjoying the family. He gave me copies of touching letters he received from the father of one of his close buddies who was KIA near him on Okinawa, of a letter he wrote to HBO criticizing the portrayal of Marines in "The Pacific," and of an oral history the local library created about him. There are wonderful history stories and great Americans, right in our own neighborhoods. Look around.