Semper Fidelis - The Marine Part Two

When the Marine left that teenage girl that summer evening, there were no good-byes or best wishes. On the contrary, he asked the girl for a glass of water. While she was in the kitchen, he slipped out the door into the night without another word.When the teen returned and found the Marine gone, she dismissed the whole evening as nothing less than irrational and creepy. She quickly went back to being a teenager without a care in the world.

The Marine shipped out in July as part of first major multi-regiment operations against the North Vietnamese Army was Operation Hastings. October 1966, the military brass was ordered to institute strong posts just south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. The division moved its headquarters from Da Nang to Phu Bai in preparation. Meanwhile in New York, grandma was entering her senior year of high school. She never thought for one minute the Marine was in any kind of real danger. She did light a candle for his safe return after mass every Sunday.She listened to the news but didn’t truly understand all the ramifications.Groundbreaking took place for the World Trade Center.More pertinent to her, Martin Luther King Jr. led a civil rights march in Chicago. Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction.

Life went on for the teen until the evening of November 3, 1966. My great-grandfather asked the front door bell.He was met by two Marines who asked to speak with my grandmother. They were Casualty Assistance Call Officers. They were there on behalf of the Marine’s widow in regards to the life insurance policy. They are responsible for notifying family members when a service member dies. Since my grandmother was not family, the CAO declined to provide information to the questions – circumstances of his death, and where was the Marine buried.

My grandmother assured the two Marines she was not interested in the money, she simply wanted an answer to her questions. The two Marines tried getting my great-grandfather to pressure his daughter into signing the forms. This teenage girl stood her ground with these men by making a statement she would make many times – “I promised a Marine I would honor his wishes, and verified he was buried in a National cemetery.Give me the information and I will sign the forms. How can you ask me to break a promise to a dead man? I am willing to take on the U.S. government on his behalf.”

To her surprise my grandmother said, the two Marines came to attention and gave her a salute. One remarked that he hoped when he died there’d be someone to stand and fight for his wishes. They told her the widow would probably get a civilian lawyer after they filed a report.

The following Sunday at mass, my grandmother said she saw a guy in military uniform come into the church. The soldier stood out because during that time most active duty personnel did not wear their uniform in public unless absolutely necessary. She didn’t know what branch of the service, just a guy in uniform. She said a prayer for the Marine.As usual, she lite a candle before leaving church. Turning to leave, she thought she saw the Marine toward the back of the church. As she exited, she saw no one in a military uniform.

That night her sleep was restless. She got up to go to the bathroom, and that’s when she saw her ghost as clear as day.It was her Marine. Surprisingly, grandma said she wasn’t afraid.She had no idea he was coming to tell her the fight was just beginning.Clueless teen thought when the Marines reported to the widow, the Marine would be buried as he wished.

The next Tuesday an official letter arrived from the widow’s lawyer in Indiana.That night, the Marine ghost arrived as my grandmother retuned from the bathroom. He dictated the reply to the lawyer. People still wrote letters by hand back then. The Marine also added a fact the teen in New York could not know about a situation in Indiana.The Marine appeared to his wife, and told her she was going to have a boy.She became hysterical. Fearing complications with the pregnancy, he wanted her to know he would not bother her again. He did tell the teen their business was not done. My grandmother was so thrilled to have her own personal ghost – no she didn’t.

About a week later a letter reply came from the lawyer with instructions to call his office.My grandmother made the call when she came home from school the next day. “How did you know about ghostly visit to the widow?”The lawyer asked after a brief salutation. The Marine told me was my grandmother’s answer.“How else would I know?”The lawyer went on to say digging up a body to be reburied would be an expensive endeavor for the widow and her family. Of course the Marine was right there with a solution. My grandmother told the lawyer to call the Senator from Indiana tell him a Marine died in Viet Nam and wants to be buried in the National cemetery. The family will be provided with a hearse and family car. The Marine added that his battle ribbons should be added to his uniform.

The lawyer was still asking this teenager how she got all this information. “The Marine told me! The Marine told me!” My grandmother said she was tired from restless sleeps. She was tired of having a personal ghost. She had enough in her life to be an ostracized teen – an African-American Catholic teenage girl who talks to a dead Marine.

The Marine permanent address is New Albany National Cemetery was established in 1862 to accommodate the burial of soldiers. He’s in good company, probably what he wanted.He can chat with the African-American men of the U.S. Colored Troops were buried in segregated sections from their fellow soldiers. There are stories of escaping slaves using the Underground Railroad.

My grandmother soon got a call from the lawyer. Everything with the Senator went just like she said. The Marine was died as per his request.My grandmother said she was happy to sign the forms and keep her promise to a dead man. The Marine never interrupted her sleep again BUT my grandma has been in some situations she knew she had a guardian angel.Sometimes she sees a young man in uniform or feels a presence.There’s at least one ghost in the world for sure.