COOS BAY, Ore. — For some people, life is all about the experiences.
Bill Marino was in high school when he realized that he wanted to join the Marines. “I wasn’t looking for glory or anything like that,” Marino explains. “It was kind of a step I wanted to take, to have the experience of being a Marine.”
Marino had a cousin who was a career Marine, a “Mustang” who had climbed the enlisted ranks and was serving as a warrant officer. For the young man whose childhood was spent moving from place to place in Southern California, hearing about his cousin left an impression.
“Being a Marine can be very hard, but being able to handle the training and the life of a Marine is something we are very proud of.”
It was during boot camp that Marino discovered his future career. Marino had scored high enough on an aptitude test that he was given a choice between infantry radio repairman and fire control radar technician.
“I chose the fire control radar technician — I even had to extend for a year to get that. I just seemed like a fun career — a higher calling.”
After completing training, Marino received orders for Vietnam. Marines received a month’s leave before deployment. While most Marines planned to spend their time with family and friends, Marino had a different destination in mind.
“I knew I was going through at least a few months of staging at Camp Pendleton, and would see my folks during that time. So I put in a leave request for Europe.
“I spent half my time in Paris and half my time in Spain. It’s probably the best vacation I’ve ever had. I was living with the embassy Marines while I was in Paris. That’s a great thing about the Marines — we take care of our own. I walked up, told them I was a Marine, and they put me up during my stay.”
After arriving in Vietnam late in 1965, Marino discovered he would be serving as a radar technician for a fire control base. Fire control bases used radar to help guide planes to their targets. Their equipment included a short-range radar, a leftover from the Korean War.
“Marines never throw anything away.”
On a clear day the radar could see perhaps 20 miles. To be effective, a fire control team had to be within 15 miles of the target, sometimes closer. Often within range of enemy artillery.
“There was a time when we were up at Dong Ha, right up on the demilitarized zone. One morning the North Vietnamese started sending in a lot of artillery our way. I had just gotten up and was taking a stretch outside my tent when the rounds started coming in. The second round hit my hut, right near the foot of the bed. It was an armor piercing round. It penetrated the ground a few feet, then shot the explosion out of the hole. One of the rounds landed close to an antenna, and knocked out the power supply. I managed to crawl to it and got the antenna going again.
“That was probably the most exciting thing that happened to me there.”
After leaving the Marines, Marino spent some time working as a research and development technician for a company in San Diego. But for someone always looking for new experiences it could not last long.
One holiday season Marino purchased a side of leather to make Christmas presents for his friends and family. They were so well received that he realized he could turn his hobby into a business. He moved to Oregon in the early 1970s and has been working with leather ever since. Marino credits his success in business to his success as a Marine.
“The one thing I discovered by being in the Marines was that I could do more than I ever supposed I could. The Marines sure put you through your paces, and it’s been tremendous for my work ethic. Times when I’ve been stuck between a rock and a hard place, I knew that if I went in and gave it everything I could that I could do anything. That’s a wonderful thing that I learned in the Corps.”
About 10 years ago, Marino realized he needed to experience Vietnam again. He took his wife, Kay, and their two children, Amy and Jesse. It was exactly what he had hoped it would be.
“It was very cathartic for me. I wanted to reassure myself that the Vietnamese were making it. I’m not interested in all the politics of Vietnam, but they have a pretty good country going there. I’ve never felt more welcome anywhere and never felt more safe than I did during that trip. The Vietnamese people are very high on my estimation of humanity.”
Bill Marino is the owner of Marino’s Boots and Saddles in Coquille. He is a member of the Marine Corps League Coquille River Detachment 1042. He and his wife, Kay, have been married 38 years.
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