-Capt. Tom "TP" Kelly- VMCJ-2 MOS (RSO/ECMO) 1966 1972 Tom passed away in 2007

-Lt.Col. Jay Reidy- VMCJ MOS (SLR Photo) 1965 1970

I was an SLR photo guy with J-3 and did the trans-Pac to replace the F8s with the new RF4s in '65. Came back to J3 in '69 and punched out on 31 December 1969 as a corporal. When I got my BA from the University of California in '72, I sneaked down to the recruiter and pushed my way through the demonstrators to talk to the OSO about a commission. In July of that year I got commissioned and headed off to beautiful Pensacola for flight school. My grades in VT-1 guaranteed I'd never see a J-squadron again, except at an air show, but I did get to fly H1s and the Boeing Body Bag H-46. Somehow I managed to survive a fire at 10,000 feet and an exploded mix-box and transmission and made it to retirement in 1992. In 1985 I moved over to the 23rd Marine Regiment and spent a very enlightening four or five years as a grunt. It's not all that bad when you're on the colonel's staff! After leaving the Marine Corps, I headed to Oregon and got a Ph.D. I'm now working as a software consultant and writing computer systems books no one reads. I mean, just how many people are interested in reading 750 pages on A Digital Brain Atlas for surgical Planning, Model Driven Segmentation, and Teaching? See. I didn't think so. I've managed to stay married to the same person for more than 30 years, and have two sons. The older one is a sophomore at the University of California and works part-time in the design department of Santa Cruz Skateboards. We live just outside Los Angeles, in a little vill called Sierra Madre. It's up in the mountains, and we have bears, rattle snakes, raccoons, and barn owls. In the winter I spend as much time as possible skiing, and have been on ski patrol for some time (I get to ski free that way). In the summer I just swelter and pray for rain.

-Sgt. Chuck Rasmussen- VMCJ MOS (6671) 1963 1966

I left the Corps in '67, out of Beaufort, S.C. When I drove out that gate for the time it was the most mixed emotion car ride I ever had. I still wonder if I did the right thing today. I have an undying love of the Marine Corps, and the brotherhood we all are part of. "Once a Marine, always a Marine", follows with, "Once a brother, always a brother". What a special family, and unique brotherhood I am privileged to be a part of. "Semper Fi". I recently retired, June 2nd actually, from Yellow Freight Corporation. I live in the Chicago area, and have since I left the Corps. I attended Southern Illinois University when I got out, and went to work for UPS, for about eight years. I then hooked up with Yellow Freight and have been there for 22 years, until I retired. I am now a construction foreman for a small construction company in Crystal Lake, Illinois, about 40 miles NW of Chicago. I remarried in '94 and now have a beautiful family of 5 children(adults). Three are mine and two are Connie's, my wife. She is the principal of a K-5 school here in Crystal Lake, and she is the first woman who I have ever met that actually thinks she understands this brotherhood the Corps has which is so special. She honors my feelings and love of the Corps, and has given me a wall of my own in our family room for my memorabilia of the Corps.



-Sgt. CHUCK LOOMIS-
VMCJ-1
1967 1969
I STARTED ACTIVE DUTY 10 JUNE 1966 AT PORTLAND, OREGON. WENT THRU MCRD SAN DIEGO, GRADUATING SEPTEMBER '66 ITR UP THE ROAD FOR TWO WEEKS. NATTC AT MILLINGTON, TN STARTING TOWARDS THE END OF '66. GRADUATED THE ELECTRONICS "A" SCHOOL IN APRIL '67. THEN TO PENSACOLA NATTU "PHOTO" ANOTHER "A" SCHOOL. WAS SENT TO SQUADRON AUGUST OF '67. VMCJ-3, MCAS EL TORO. WE WERE DEPLOYED TO MCAS YUMA THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER. WAS WITH VMCJ-3 UNTIL END OF OCTOBER '68. MOST OF THE TIME ATTENDING SCHOOL ON THE INFRARED AND SIDELOOKING RADAR SYSTEMS OF THE RF-4B. AT THAT TIME THE SQUADRON HAD THREE A/C TYPES: RF-4B, EA-6A AND EF-10B. ARRIVED VMCJ-1 NOVEMBER '68, DA NANG. WORKED ONE MONTH ON RF-4B FLIGHT LINE. AT THAT TIME THEY WERE ROTATING PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR NORMAL MOS'S TO DO SUPPORT STUFF, (CHOW HALL, POLICE THE LIVING AREA, BURNING CRAPPERS, ETC.). I WAS SENT TO TEND THE MAG-11 LIBRARY FOR A MONTH. IT WAS PART OF SPECIAL SERVICES. AFTER A MONTH IT HAD BEEN DISCOVERED BY A LT.COL. (WHO WILL REMAIN NAMELESS) THAT I COULD TYPE ABOUT 50-60 WORDS/MISTAKES A MINUTE. I BECAME AN INSTANT R&R CLERK FOR SPECIAL SERVICES AND WAS LEFT THERE FOR THE DURATION OF MY TOUR. I RETURNED TO THE WORLD, THE FIRST PART OF DECEMBER '70 AND LEFT ACTIVE DUTY A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER.

-1stLt.. Clarence F. "Catfish" Williams-
Living in beautiful Newport, near the even more beautiful MCAS Cherry Point, NC!! I was there when the first RF-4B arrived (CPNC) and I was there when the Phantoms shuffled off to El Toro; I made the RVN det with the first EA-6As that joined with the west coast RF-4Bs. OOOOORAH
Semper Fidelis









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