Words of warrior wisdom from Pat Conroy:
My father, 6’3, 230-pound Marine Corps fighter pilot, knuckles dragging along the ground when he walked. When he was dying, I interviewed Dad. I said, “Dad, tell me about what it was like in the war.”
He told me about coming off the aircraft carrier Sicily in Korea. His was the first squadron that got there, and they said, “Keep the Koreans north of the Naktong River.” So he dove down—the first plane the North Koreans had seen—he dove down toward the enemy. I said, “How did you do, Dad?”
He said, “I did pretty good, son.” He said, “I had a good sign—they were running. It’s good when you see the enemy running. There was another good sign, son.”
“What’s that, Dad?”
“They were on fire.”
Pat also wrote a letter to the American Legion several years ago apologizing. It was very moving.
I too, wear a ring…VMI 1979.
Pat is correct in that about says it all for any military college. VMI Class of 2008 received their rings this month too.
Ben M. Bauman II
Class Agent VMI 1979