Encoded for the Experiencing War web site for the Veterans History Project.
The recording of the interview with James Edward Calhoun was digitized.
This transcription was encoded with minimal changes to the original text in an effort to preserve original content and idiosyncrasies of the person interviewed. Period language and terminology are also retained. Encoding is literal with regard to the transcriptionist's capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Spelling errors are indicated with [sic]; however, recurring errors in spelling within a single document have been marked the first time and not subsequently.
March 16, 2005. Place of interview is 10624 Chesterwood dr, Spotsylvania, Virginia 22553. Name of person being interviewed is James Edward Calhoun. Birth date is June 19, 1966. Current address is interview address as well. I am Erin Wetherby, and I am conducting the interview. Branch of service was the United States Marine Corp. Where were you at the time you enlisted?
Hindman, Kentucky.
Were you enlisted or drafted?
Enlisted.
And why did you join?
A lot of reasons. I grew up in an economically depressed area. Not a lot of work there. Parents didn't have the money to send me to college. Needless to say, if I wanted to go to college I was on my own. My parents weren't rich so...
Why did you pick the service branch you joined?
Actually I had originally considered the Air Force. It all basically came down to the recruiter that I dealt with. I had actually spoken to...... The only one that was really putting out any effort on my behalf was the Marine Corp recruiter so I stuck with it.
Do you recall your first day in service? atc
Basic Training. Absolutely. Never forget it. About SAM when we got to boot camp. Everyone has been up for about 46 hours. Everyone's and we were just gitty. You're almost drunk you're so tired. And when you get to basic training on the bus and all hell breaks lose. It's just them yelling at you "get off the bus". It's like you can't function
What did it feel like your first day of training?
It was a little unnerving, but luckily I had a recruiter who had kind of prepared me for it. He had been a drill instructor for a couple years so he had the whole routine so it gave me a taste of what it was going to be like.
So did you have a good boot camp training experience because of him?
Absolutely, yeah, I did.
And so do you remember your instructor pretty well?
The basic training instructors? Absolutely. My senior drill instructor was Gunnery Sergeant Torbet, original senior drill instructor. My two drill instructors were Sergeant Cowell and Sergeant Jucks. We lost our original senior halfway through basic training. He was injured during a training exercise so we got a new one. His name I cannot remember. My original drill instructors I remember very well. And I actually had met one of them before boot camp and didn't know it 'til I was there.
How did you get through your training?
Well you're there with originally 77 other people going through the exact same thing you are. So you're in good company. And I mean, you know, the people that just can't hack it slowly get weeded out as you go through boot camp. But the ones that are getting through, by the time you get to the end of boot camp you are very tight.
What wars did you serve in?
Desert Storm, Desert Shield. They were the only two.
Where did you go?
Well for that conflict, several places. I started in Africa. I flew to Africa. I took another flight to Italy. Got on a battleship in Italy. Cruised all the way to the Persian Gulf. Got off in Saudi Arabia. I actually went in to Kuwait City and just across the border to another country.
Do you remember arriving? Like when you arrived in Africa, was it different?
Yeah, that was actually, that was the second time I had been there. Not to that particular place, but in an airport so. I had never spent any time there, and I did stay for several days that trip. So it was kind of a treat.
Did you go there for more training, or was that like where you stated?
That was just a stopping point. (?A conquest of one plane going?)
And what was your job at the time where you were flying to? I was a Avionics Technician. Was my primary____But the Marine Corps a little bit different than the other braches of service because everybody, they say, is basically a trained rifleman. What your job is if we're on the defense, so to speak, their going to get you a rifle and put you out on the field.
Did you see any combat during any of your time?
Yes.
Were there any casualties in your unit?
In Desert Storm, yes there was. There were two guys. Unfortunately it wasn't from enemy fire. It was from____+
Tell me about a couple of your most memorable experiences.
During Desert Storm, or...?
Anything.
I would have to say that, probably the most memorable experience was in [Panama?]. We were there not as an aggressor. We were there as just a show of force. In the 80's, everywhere we go there's a drug lord or dictator who's trying to start wars in South America. We were afraid it was going to spill across the border onto American soil. So we were there just to say hey you can't do that, so to speak. I actually saw more action there than in Desert Storm, personally. We were actually getting shot at on our way to the bases there. No one got killed. We had guys get injured, but we were lucky. That was probably the most memorable time during my entire service.
Something that will stick with you?
Yeah, oh yeah
What about during Desert Storm?
During Desert Storm, was probably the night operations. I actually went over there attached to a VMA 542. The squadron I was permanently assigned to was not considered a gun squadron. We were a training squadron. We trained pilots to aviate. I was actually attached to a gun squadron. And I went over there as an aviator technician, which is what I was trained to do. But while I was there, on a regular basis we had rotating duty, where I would be attached to like an infantry unit for a week. And I would go out and do drills and maneuvers with those guys. Then I would be attached to a tank unit and do drills and maneuvers with them. So we did pretty much everything. Probably the most memorable thing that I remember about Desert Storm was uh the night that I got there. I hadn't slept but about 30 hours that week. And when you go into a situation like that you're so hyped up you can't sleep. You can't, it's impossible. You might as well lay there with your eyes open. You got there and we were given a tent to stage our gear in. And most people don't realize it, but in the desert it gets super, super cold. And we had built a fire outside to try and stay warm and luckily everyone was so cold they didn't lie down in their bunks and we were all sitting around the fire. And well we had the fire dampened down so much you couldn't really tell that there was a fire going. And there were gun shots, and of course everyone scrambled for their rifle. By the time everyone got their rifles, whoever had made the gun shots was gone. Well I little later I decided to try and lay down I remember my helmet was laying on the head, on my pillow with a bullet had ricochet on it. So if I had been lying there I probably would have died. So I didn't sleep for like the first six days I was there. So that's probably the most memorable thing about that whole time was just when I first got there, how intense everything was. But once you're there for a while you kind of get into a groove of thinking. You didn't really think about it.
Where you awarded any metals or citations? And how did you get them?
For Desert Storm. Yes I got the urn National Defense Service Metal, which was a metal given to anyone who served during that period through Desert Storm, because everyone, even if they weren't there, contributed in some way to what we were doing. There was people here in the United States supporting us with food, supplies. Yeah so anyone who served got a Nation Defense Service Metal. I also got a Kuwait Liberation Metal from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. That was for my service there at the time. I got a Combat Action Ribbon, my second award for that, uh, overseas service again. It was my third overseas service campaign. I think that was it for Desert Storm. Those were some biggies.
Yeah, I agree. Ok, how did you stay in touch with your family?
At that time, just through written letters. And on a rare occasion we would get to make a phone call.
How often would you say?
During the time I was there, I was there for about 11 months______+, but when I did, I talked for quit a while.
What was the food like there, or anywhere when you were in service?
At first, well I mean generally in that kind of situation you get one thing, MRE's, stands for meal ready to eat. Which, some of 'em are pretty horrible and some of 'em are pretty good. I mean you take the good with the bad. The worst you could get was a dehydrated pork patty, which has the consistency of dry Styrofoam. Even if you reconstituted it, added water to it, it still wasn't that good. But then they had good stiff like___+. I mean it was, it was okay.
You got lucky sometimes?
Yeah, and you got, you got to eat fairly well for a while. I used to joke about it because during Desert Storm they actually built a McDonald's in the middle of the desert. Well it wasn't a McDonald's per se with the building and all that. What they did was they took a tent and set it up and took volunteers from the United States that worked at McDonald's. They volunteered to go and serve us food. McDonald's provided all the ingredients. They put arched up out front, you know.
Must have been nice to see something from home.
Yeah, well you could go get, well it was nice 'cause you could go get a burger, fries, and a coke for like 50 cents. I mean they sold it to us for what it cost.
Wow, they really did a service for you guys.
Yeah and it was great, but unfortunately it was way back away from everything so I didn't get to go, but a lot of the guys in the back
Just nice to know it was there sometimes. Just to see the arches.
Well I might get to go every couple of weeks when I changed my form. When I transferred from one (post) to another.
Did you have plenty of supplies?
Absolutely. More than enough supplies.
Did you feel any pressure of stress from your job?
from time to time yeah. Probably the most stressful and nerve-racking thing I ever had to do was when we had prisoner duty, and it wasn't like we were taking prisoners. The Iraqi soldiers were giving up by the hundreds daily. Most of their soldiers weren't really soldiers. They were just guys that Hussein had just pulled off the street, handed 'em a gun and said either you fight for me or you die.
So they were civilians?
Yeah. So these guys, they weren't trained. They had no food. They had no support, and they were starving. Every morning you could see a line of them across the desert, weapons over their heads. They all knew the drill. They would come in, drop their weapons, put their hands behind their heads, and go into the camp, just because they probably knew we would feed them. I mean we had uh, when I first got to the prison 8 camp we had probably 1400 Iraqi citizens. Not soldiers, citizens that were there. We didn't consider them prisoners.
Right, because they weren't even soldiers, they were civilians and they probably didn't have anywhere to go.
Yeah, and they were giving up. They were giving up. They didn't want to fight. So we didn't really consider 'em prisoners, but you also cant not consider 'em dangerous because you never know when you got one person, mixed in with the rest of them, whose there for one reason, to try to kill Americans. A lot of them do that. We actually had a situation where a POW, he was the last in line. They were doing the same thing. They would come in, drop their weapon in the pile that was already started. Hands behind their heads. They would do into the camp, no questions asked. Had some trouble with this one guy, got up close to the pile of weapons, dropped his weapon. Cocked it and started yelling in Arabic. Well we had one guy that spoke Arabic and he couldn't get out of him what he was saying because he was talking so fast. And the guy actually put the gun up to his shoulder and aimed right at the guy next to me. And I was a sergeant, so most of the guys only carried rifles. I had a side-arm, or a pistol. I pulled the pistol. The guy next to me, well he's got his rifle up. And about 600 guys had their rifles up. And this guy died, because he tried to shoot people. I mean, it was before he got one shot out. 30 second later he had about 60 bullets in him.
You can't risk it.
Yeah, but I mean that was rare. That was the only time anything like that happened. But it made you, luckily it happened early when we got there because I mean most of us have never done anything like this. It prepared you for the fact that you don't know. You could be there for months and not have a single incident. You get relaxed and then a guy shows up and kills 20 people. So you always have to be ready, always.
So since it happened at the beginning, from then on you were probably ready for anything.
Yeah, I mean it was an eye opener.
Did you do anything for good luck, or to help you get through the day?
Not really for good luck. I mean every morning, like I said, I was a sergeant so I was in charge of a fairly large group of guys, and you know we had guys that were highly religious. They had a, said a prayer in the morning, a religious standard prayer. I mean we had guys from all ethnic backgrounds. We had Jamaicans, we had Orientals, we even had people from the Middle-East. And they all, you know, worshipped in their own ways. Whatever way they worshipped, I would worship with them. It kind of, yeah it kind of made them feel like I really cared about what they wanted to do, and I did. I was responsible for those guys. I felt like it was my duty to make them feel like they were (deserving). And in return, I knew they were watching my back at any given time so.
Take a little, give a little. How did people entertain themselves? Like what did you do for entertainment?
Well there's always a clown in any group, and I mean that kind of thing goes on. I mean I've been in fire fights with guys making jokes. That's, I mean that's the Marine mentality. Their making jokes and laughing while they're shooting rounds at the people trying to kill 'em. And I mean that's, that may sound warped to some people, but it's actually a way of coping with what you're doing. I mean when it was quiet we did 10 what anybody else would do. We got bored, we would play cards, sit around and talk for hours, write letters. Whatever we wanted to do. I mean, we didn't have a lot of free time to begin with so that wasn't really a problem. Everything stayed hopping so much you didn't really have time.
Did you get to see any entertainers while you were there?
No I didn't. I know there was some celebrities that came through. Who they were, I have no idea. I was no where near where they came through. I just heard.
What did you do when you were on leave?
Generally I went home, spent time with my family. I mean I really had no desire to do anything other than go home. I mean any son, anyone who spends time in the service, no matter how long they're gone, it always feels good to go home.
Do you recall any particularly humorous or unusual events while you were in service?
We don't have time.
More than one?
We don't have time. Everyday, everyday.
There's always something?
Always.
What were some of the pranks that you or others would pull?
A lot of guys who joined the service are right out of high school. I mean 99.9 percent of these guys go to boot camp right out of high school___+, never been on their own. And when they get out on their own, they don't know how to act. So most guys, you know, after boot camp, once they get through their schools and their tours of duty 10 11 station, tend to spend all their free time partying. And I mean, that's just a way to blow off steam, and I mean for a lot of guys. Some guys let it go too far and become an alcoholic, but that's rare. Most guys in the military do it because they have to.
To relieve some stress.
Exactly. But you always have these new guys that show up who have never drank in their life. It takes about half a beer and they're passed out. Of course, you know, they got makeup put on 'em and that sort of thing. Typical college boy type pranks. Nothing bad. I mean it was constantly happening
Nothing too extreme?
No. I mean you would hear, you would hear stories and you never knew if they were true. You would hear stories about things that someone had supposedly done, but you would never know for sure.
Right. You never actually talked to the person it happened to.
And a lot of times the____would start rumors to keep people from attempting stuff.
What did you think of fellow officers or soldiers?
I treated them all with respect.
Give respect, and get respect.
I may not agree with 'em, I may not like 'em, but its not my, my purpose. It's not really my purpose to like 'em. It's my purpose to get along with 'em. It's my job. I mean I did run into people, who in any other situation, I would have told 'em to get bent. But you know, if you, I mean especially if someone out-ranks you, you have to respect that rank. And you know, regardless of rank, I respect anyone who was in the service. 11 12 Especially anybody who was in the Marine Corp. I mean everyone talks about the Marine Corp, says we get the dumb ones, the___+ It takes a lot of guts to___+. You know, they call them the few, the proud because they're always the first to fight.
And there's so few because everybody knows that.
Yeah, exactly.
Did you keep a personal diary of stuff that was going on?
I did. Not a consistent diary. Whenever something that I really wanted to remember the details of happened, I would jot it down. Unfortunately I no longer have that. Another story.
Do you recall the day your service ended?
Yes I do. It was a big party. The guys that I worked with, and had known for years, surprised me. They set up a monstrous party at a place called Peach Beach at Cherry Point, North Carolina. It's very secure. You can only get to it by boat. It's on an island. When I got there, there was like 15 kegs of beer buried in the sand that had been there all day. There was tons of food going. There was like 300 people. It was a big get- together. You know I had served for 8 years so I got to know a lot of people. It meant a lot to me that they would go to that much trouble.
Yeah, that that many people showed up. You actually got through to them and they cared.
Or they just wanted free beer.
Yeah. It's like a college party. Yeah.
What did you do in the days and weeks afterwards? 12 13
I initially, I had some leave I hadn't used I hadn't used from Desert Storm. So initially I took almost 3 months off with pay.
Well deserved.
Yeah I mean I went home and spend some time with my father. And I'm glad I did. I spent a lot of time with my father and not long after that he died of cancer. But I'm glad I got s chance to actually spend that much time with him. If I hadn't, I probably would have regretted it. I was close to him.
Good timing
Yeah I mean it was. Things happen for a reason. But that's all I did. I stayed there for a while with my dad. Time was really short. Then I got a job. I actually had a job lined up to work___+, but that didn't last too long. I ended up coming here to northern Virginia.
Did you go back to school at all?
Not per se. When I started working for, actually started working for GTE. And GTE was kind enough to send me for tons of school. I volunteered for every class that came up. I think I had a minor in underwater basket weaving.
Did you make any close friends while you were in the service, and have you continued any of those relationships?
Yes, absolutely. I guy in particular I met on the bus on the way to basic training. My friend Al Richards. He and I finished boot camp together. We graduated the same day. Through out boot camp, you see during basic training in the Marine Corp everyone wants to be the guy that graduated with honor. He wants to be the top lead I suppose. Al and I were to two front runners. We were competing, friendly competition, 13 14 but we were competing. Well I ended up graduating. And it seemed like, from that day on, he and I went to the same schools, we ended up in the same units. We had a career together until I got out. He's still in. He's still in service. But it always seemed, no matter what happened, I always seemed to get promoted. I was always a step ahead of him.
Made him work harder.
Yeah, he was my best friend at the time.
And you're still in contact with him?
Absolutely. Yeah him and several other people.
And what did you go on to do as a career after the war, the phone company? Well Verizon. I actually tried several different things. You know, I work for myself for a while, which I enjoyed. Going from the military to civilian life's a little difficult because um it's a lot different. I mean I'm basically doing a job in the Marine Corp___+.
Your job was your life.
Yeah, and I mean, you know, you're doing a job you know, just like a 9 to 5 person. But it's still not the same. It's a different atmosphere. Once you get in to the civilian world, it's a little bit of a transition.___+. Um, there's not so much, in the Marine Corp I never saw, you know, any back stabbing, you know brown nosing. Trying to suck up to the boss. That kind of thing. That kind of thing just didn't go on because it was more of a fair promotion system. You got promoted based on your individual achievements, your individual abilities. You're given awards and that kind of thing. And if you screw up, then you're demoted. It's that plain and simple. It's not that way in civilian life. That's hard to deal with. It's difficult 14 15
Did your military experience influence your thinking about war or about military in general? Before you joined did you feel differently?
Probably not. My father was in, he was on the hundred and first Air Bom in the Army. I got two uncles who are retired from the Air Force. A lot of family members that were military. ___+. And really, joining the Marine Corp and spending time in service probably just reinforced the way I already felt.
How did your service and experience affect your life?
It's all been positive. Absolutely positive. A lot of young kids don't realize joining the military can open a lot of doors for you. There's a lot of benefits to it. It's not just___+. They'll pay you and teach you. The pay's not that great. But the benefits are priceless. I mean, they'll pay for college tuition.___+
Is your anything you would like to add that we didn't cover?
Nope. I think we pretty much covered my career, and the ending of it.
Well thank you for your service in the military.
It was my pleasure serving.