Alice Marie Joralemon-Strong

Fifty years ago - what was I doing?

December 10 th, 1970, is my PEBD (Pay Entry Base Date), the day I signed the paperwork to become a Marine Officer. It was also the day I began the greatest adventure of my life.

At the time, I was only 20 and a student at Mansfield State College in PA. On that day, my OSO, Captain Tschan and the MSGT drove me 25 miles from the college campus to my home for my parents to give their approval.

My Mom thought joining the Marine Corps would be a good opportunity to get out of our rural area and see more of the world. Dad was a different story. He had been exempt during WW2 as a dairy farmer whose milk supported New York City. His younger brother served in the Army in Alaska during the Korean War. So, we weren’t sure what Dad would decide and his was the deciding signature.

The Captain and the MSGT explained all about the Woman Officer Candidate Course (WOCC). As a junior in college, I would be committed to an 8-week course in the summer of 1971 at MCB Quantico, VA. before returning to college and completing my senior year. At week 5 in the training, the Marine Corps or I could call it quits if we didn’t fit. No harm. No foul.

“After all, Dad, what can they do to me in 5 weeks that I can’t survive?” He signed.

Five weeks into WOCC, even though I wasn’t the greatest at drill and I had been advised continuously that my hair was too short and too straight, and my acne was unsightly, the Marine Corps did not ask me to leave. I didn’t ask to go home either! I loved the Marine Corps so much that I didn’t want to return to college; I wanted to stay. Rules are rules though, so a college graduate I must be before becoming an Officer.

The summer of 1972 began with my graduating from Mansfield State College (MSC) in my USMC Dress Whites. During the ceremony, Captain Tschan and GySgt David administered the oath. Later that evening, we discovered that the local television station included my part of the MSC graduation ceremony in their broadcast. (All of the male graduates joining the Marine Corps had a separate, private ceremony elsewhere).

So, fifty years ago, I was beginning my journey with the Marine Corps. It was a journey that would took me to Quantico, Parris Island, El Toro, 29 Palms, Washington DC, Glenview, Chicago and Camp Smith.

I met and worked with some wonderful people and I made friends who remain close to my heart. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Doug Barney

Larry Woods, Doug Barney, Will Holahan

 How I Became a Marine

Early in 1965 I was teaching school, but my personal life was a train wreck. A planned marriage didn’t work out, I was drinking way too much and I had no plans for the future. 

Having nothing better to do I decided to go to grad school at Butler where I did my undergraduate work. One evening while attending class I ventured to the student union to get something to eat. When I went down the steps to the cafeteria a Marine Captain was standing behind a table passing out recruiting literature. I nodded as I passed him and took two steps inside the cafeteria door when I did an about face, walked up to him an said “I’d like to join the Marine Corps.” Until the words left my lips I had never, for a single day, considered serving in any branch of the military much less the USMC.

My parents were not happy. My brother was an Army officer and they were concerned about having two sons serving at the same time with Viet Nam going hot and heavy. But, they almost didn’t need to be concerned because the Marine Corps thought long and hard before allowing me to enter.

My father and his entire family, with the exception of one sister, were born in Russia. Before being “Americanized” the family name was Barnaj. Because the USSR was a major concern at the time, it took months to get a clearance. But that wasn’t all. I had received several speeding tickets and decided to go to Florida on vacation instead of making my court date. The judge wasn’t amused when I returned and hit me with a significant fine that I couldn’t pay. That cost me two days in the Marion County jail and several sessions with a government shrink who questioned my maturity. In the end, the Corps must have been hard up for officers because I was accepted with a Base Pay Entry Date in December 1965.

Later on I became the OIC of HQ Det4.