Still proud; former Marine will be part of ceremony Tuesday

By Margaret Krueger of the Daily Times staff
Friday, November 7, 2003 10:05 PM CST

Gene Stocks of Watertown is one of thousands of veterans across the country who will be honored on Tuesday in observance of Veterans Day. He has been very active in numerous military organizations after serving as a U.S. Marine in the Vietnam War. (JOHN HART/Daily Times)

Becoming a Marine was the fulfillment of a dream for Gene Stocks, who has never regretted that long-ago decision.

The Watertown man has officially been out of the service for years, but he will still be proudly marching with other veterans on Tuesday in the annual downtown Veterans Day parade.

Per tradition, a ceremony will be held at the Main Street bridge at 11 a.m. Veterans organizations will meet at the Econo Lodge, march down Main Street to the bridge for the ceremony, and march back to the Econo Lodge.

Veterans have been honored on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month since 1919 when Armistice Day was first observed to mark the hour fighting ceased in World War I. The name was changed in 1954 to Veterans Day to include veterans of all wars.

Stocks has been active for years in several veterans organizations and has seldom missed a military service for Memorial Day, Fourth of July or Veterans Day. He is an active member of the Bartleme-Schwefel Marine Corps League Detachment, Riedemann-Thompson AMVETS Post 35, American Legion Post 189, and Clarence-McGuire Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7852, Vietnam Veterans of America, Waukesha Chapter of the Purple Heart Society, and the 3rd Marine Division Association.

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Stocks, a graduate of Oconomowoc High School, said, "I knew I wanted to be a Marine when I was a sophomore in high school. I enlisted when I was a senior and told my dad that if he would not sign for me, I was going anyway. I was 17 when I enlisted in April 1965, but was 18 when I went in that August."

Unfortunately, his dream was not quite fulfilled as he had planned.

Also at age 18, Stocks was sent to Vietnam. At age 19, he was critically wounded. His injuries left him unfit for the more active war exercises, but he was able to complete his four-year tour of enlistment.

"My dad always said that you should always do the best you can. I thought the Marines were the best, and I wanted to find out if I was capable of being a Marine. I wanted a military career, but after I was wounded, I wasn't good enough to be a Marine," he said.

While serving in Vietnam with the Echo company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division, he was wounded near Da Nang on May 26, 1966, in the thick of the fighting. One of the Marine platoons had run into a Viet Cong ambush, and Stocks was among those brought in for reinforcements. The Viet Cong had set up booby traps as they retreated.

"The guy in front of me stepped on a 'Bouncing Betty' that had three prongs sticking up. When you step on a barb, the whole thing rises up and explodes. The whole squad was hit," recalled Stocks, who suffered chest, stomach, leg and arm wounds. "I was thrown up and away and woke up in what we called 'the butcher shop' or field hospital."

After three operations in the field hospital, Philippines and Japan respectively, Stocks spent five months in rehabilitation. His extensive wounds prevented him from being airlifted to Great Lakes Naval Hospital in the states.

Because of his injuries, he could not return to his unit, and he was eventually retrained as a pressman, a job he barely tolerated. "I like to be outside, and I had 26 months to go," he said. He finished his four-year tour of enlistment with the Military Police at the 10th Naval District, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

He and his wife, Miriam, were wed in Puerto Rico in August 1969, and he was honorably discharged later that month.

"While I was overseas, I did not realize the anti-war sentiment was getting worse in the states until my brother Ronald was injured while on riot control training with the Wisconsin National Guard," he said.

"When I returned home, I was spit on in the airport, called a 'baby killer' and had things thrown at me. It was the same for the other vets - there was lots of animosity toward those of us who had gone and done our duty. We were treated like second-class citizens. That's why Vietnam vets don't join military organizations - they are still angry," said Stocks. "Even today, schools don't talk about it, and I hope that military serving in Iraq won't be treated the same."

They moved to Oconomowoc where Stocks became a U.S. mail carrier, continuing his service to the government. The couple, along with their son Robert, later moved to Watertown. Stocks retired from the post office nearly two years ago after 35 years of service, and is a school bus driver for Transportation Services.

"After we moved to Watertown, I saw the Marine Corps color guard marching, and realized how much I missed the brotherhood of the Marine Corps. Things escalated from there, and I served the organization on city and state levels," he related. He has served as Southwest Division commandant, Department of Wisconsin Junior Vice Commandant, Senior Vice Commandant, and as State Commandant from 1988 to 2000. He has twice been named Department of Wisconsin Marine League Recruiter of the Year, and was also named Wisconsin Marine of the Year.

"I try to stay active in vets' issues. Not a day goes by that I don't think about the (Vietnam) War and the men who were lost. I am reminded of it even more now. Soldiers dying - it hits close to home," he said.