SAN DIEGO -- The West Coast Drill Instructor Association held their annual memorial service, Sept. 9, aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego for drill instructors who have passed over the last year.
A rifle volley was fired in honor of the 10 deceased drill instructors who served on the drill field of San Diego and Parris Island, S.C.
The ceremony was open to members of the West Coast Drill Instructor Association and their families, giving former and current drill instructors a chance to get together and learn from one another.
“The unity between young and old is what’s most important,” said Ret. Sgt. Maj. Bobby Woods, president of the West Coast Drill Instructor Association.
In 1999 the association was established to commemorate drill instructors who had passed on, much like the East Coast Drill Instructor Association Parris Island Chapter.
“Every year since, we’ve come out and rang the bell in remembrance of what they have done for our country and Corps,” said Woods, referring to the fallen drill instructors.
“Being apart of this association and coming out every year to honor our fallen allows camaraderie to form, and lets all of us be apart of something bigger than ourselves when the bell rings,” said Wood.
Not all of the members who come out to show their respects know the deceased members personally, but many do.
Retired Marine Larry Stafford, a member of the West Coast Drill Instructor Association, had worked closely many times with two of the former drill instructors who were called out during the ceremony, Ret. Sgt. Maj. J.P. Henderson and Ret. Sgt. Maj. Fred Nye.
“Sgt. Maj. Henderson was a very personal sergeant major, he liked to get to know his Marines. I was with him at the (Recruit Training Regiment) and Okinawa,” said Stafford. “He died from cancer this last year and Nye passed away from a heart attack.”
Stafford brought along his family, which included his daughter, who is also a Marine, to share his past with his younger generation Marine.
“This is phenomenal that they put on this ceremony every year to honor the deceased,” said Stafford.
Ret. Sgt. Maj. Bill Paxton, a member of the West Coast Drill Instructor Association and author of the new book “Oorah,” read the names of the 10 deceased members during the ceremony, one of the names Paxton knew very well.
“Gunny Roper and I were close friends. We were stationed together a lot. First 1964 through 1965, then once I got back from Vietnam he was my instructor for my refresher course in Drill Instructor School,” said Paxton, “He was harder on me than any other student, I think to better me.”
So the old and the new drill instructors can form bonds and swap stories, the members of the association who come out also get the chance to go to an Eagle, Globe, and Anchor ceremony the day before the memorial service.
“It was very nice to see the (Eagle, Globe, and Anchor) ceremony,” said Stafford, “We didn’t have that or the crucible when I was a drill instructor.”
The members also had the opportunity to attend the graduation before the memorial ceremony. Later, many current drill instructors were able to take time from their platoons and busy schedules to meet with the former drill instructors at the boathouse for a barbeque.
“It’s a great opportunity for passed drill instructors and current drill instructors to talk about stories and different ways we have goals of making marine,” said Staff Sgt. Brody Goldthwaite. “It was very enlightening and enjoyable to see the difference now and hear about the difference then.”
The ceremony is an important part to the drill field. It not only gives a chance for the mourning and honoring of deceased drill instructors, but also gives a chance to carry on the traditions and values of the Marine Corps. Drill instructors are the Marines tasked with instilling these traditions and values to the new generation that they gained from former drill instructors.
“Historically drill instructors have had the most famous unit in the Marine Corps,” said Woods, “The most important job the Marine Corps has to offer is building Marines by basically training them.”