Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
TRANSCRIBER: Kathryn Mills - May 12, 2011
AVERY BRINK: May 11th, 2009, Webster Hill Elementary
School. Rick Wells, born July 10th, 1967. Interviewer,
Avery Brink for Conner High School. Rick served in the
U.S. Marine Corp and the reserve, Operation Enduring
Freedom. His rank was a Major and he served in Japan,
California, North Carolina, Korea, and Norway.
All right. Were you drafted or did you enlist?
WELLS: Well--I wasn't drafted but I wasn't--I didn't
enlist. I went through the officer program.
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: So I voluntarily went for a commissioning as
an officer. So we're commissioned, we're not
enlisted.
BRINK: Okay. Where were you living at the time?
WELLS: In Belleville, New Jersey, with the parents.
BRINK: So why did you join? Cause of
commissioning or--
WELLS: Well the commission is how I joined. Why I
joined was a pull towards service probably is a
good answer.
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: At that point of my life I felt that I needed to
be challenged and the Marine Corps is a perfect way
to challenge you morally, physically, and mentally.
So that was the place for me.
BRINK: So that's why you joined--you chose your branch?
WELLS: That's basically the reason I joined that
branch. Now there wasn't any particular--it was
just a pull towards that. Actually there was a
choice between that and the Coast Guard, and I
chose the Marine Corps. I don't know if it was
knowing that I'd be near a coast or knowing that we
operated on the water that appealed to me.
BRINK: Okay. Do you recall your first days in
service?
WELLS: I do, often. The first couple days you're just
you're not sure what's going on.
BRINK: So kind of lost?
WELLS: Kind of lost, but what they're doing is
they're doing medical screening, they're making
sure you're physically, mentally able to
participate. So they don't give you all your gear,
they don't do a lot of the initial training that
they intend to do because they want to make sure
that you're capable. So they check to see if you
have anything physically wrong and then--and then
the day comes where you meet your staff and your
life is pretty much changed forever. That's when
they shave your head and you carry on. Very
interesting
BRINK: What was the boot camp training like?
WELLS: Well again boot camp is for enlisted and I'm an
officer, so we went to officer candidate school.
In officer candidate school what they do is they
put you through a pretty intense training regimen
and they basically try and weed out--or they try
and determine if you have the leadership qualities
and capability to become a Marine Corps officer.
So if you're not able to do it--if you're not
able--if you're not up to the physical challenge--
BRINK: Mh mm.
WELLS: --for example then you won't make it. If you
lack integrity, if you're--you're in close quarters--
BRINK: Mh mm.
WELLS: --so if you're found to lie a lot, something
like that, or if you're found not to pull your own
weight, as you should, you won't make it. So if
you make it through all of that they say, okay you
have enough of the raw material to become a
Marine Corps officer than you move on to the next
stage.
BRINK: Okay. Do you remember your instructors?
WELLS: I do. Very interesting people. I admire them
today. I saw them--I haven't seen them in a really
long time, but I do remember them. They had a
pretty big influence on me.
BRINK: How did you get through it?
WELLS: Ultimately by realizing that I was the one that
had to change and not the organization--
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: --or not the people or not the drill
instructors. That I was the one that needed to
become more disciplined and I was the one that
needed to pay attention and to learn what it was
that I needed to learn to be a part of the
organization, and once I realized that, things
started going pretty well?
BRINK: Okay. And you said you were part of
Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraq
Freedom.
WELLS: Well I was--I was--I got out of--off of
active duty in '95 and then I joined the reserves,
and in 2001 when the country was attacked my unit
was called and I was activated in support of
Operation Enduring Freedom from '02 to '03. Now I
served that time in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Our headquarters and battalion filled a hole in
Second Marine Division. Second Marine Division
provided a unit as an anti-terrorism unit, and they
were taken out of the General's use. So we plugged
in that hole.
BRINK: Okay. Where exactly did you go?
WELLS: Well we stayed state side. My unit and we were
in, again, North Carolina. We served--we did some
exercises--we did an exercise in New York,
which was interesting because I remember floating
in to the harbor and we floated right past Ground
Zero where the Twin Towers used to be, but for the
most part that time was spent in North Carolina. I
spent some time at--in Camp Pendleton, and Point
Loma at the Sub Base, but for the most part it was
state side.
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: Well it was state side.
BRINK: What was your job or assignment?
WELLS: I was a logistics officer for a regiment.
Which basically means coordinating and making sure
that our battalions have the support that they
need, to do what they need to do.
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: So just staff position within a regiment.
BRINK: Did you ever see combat?
WELLS: I did not see combat. No.
BRINK: So no casualties in your unit or anything?
WELLS: Well--my--and how the reserves work is your
whole unit does not necessarily get activated.
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: So I was activated and than we came back and
than another unit was activated. Another part of
the unit.
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: So there's a headquarters and then there's three
battalions, okay?
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: So this headquarter and battalion was activated
and than we came back. At another point, another
battalion was activated and they went overseas.
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: And during one of those deployments we--I
consider them my casualties because they were in my
unit. I mean I didn't command them but they were
part of our unit.
BRINK: All right.
WELLS: But did I ever witness--
BRINK: Any--
WELLS: --casualties? No I didn't ever witness any.
BRINK: Okay. Tell me about a couple of your most
memorable experiences?
WELLS: I think a lot--often in the military, at least
with me, my experiences are wrapped up in people
and the people that you meet because they're almost
symbols of everything that you're doing at the
time, and I know a buddy of mine that I met when I
was in officer candidate school, which is officer
boot camp.
BRINK: Mh mm.
WELLS: I remember him coming over and talking and from
that point on, I mean, we were friends ever
since. We went to Okinawa together, came back to
North--to Camp Pendleton together. We spent most
of our active duty time in the same duty station.
Became very, very close and he was in my wedding.
Just a big influence. I mean that friendship was a
big influence on me. So as far as memorable that's
a memorable part of that. I always think I don't
know how else I would have met this kid, you know,
other than there.
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: So when I think of that I often think of
friends like that. My roommates in TBS. If
you--it's an interesting thing the Marine Corps,
you think about boot camp, but it's not just boot
camp with the Marine Corps. After you get out of
boot camp or officer candidate school
that's--that's 13--is that 13 weeks, was it that
long? After that remember I told you that's to
make sure you had the raw material to become an
officer--
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: --that's when they send you to your real training
and it's called the basic school, and that's six
months long?
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: So it's sort of like being in--on a college
campus with thousands of lieutenants, and you're
getting trained in basic Marine Corps officer
stuff.
I lost my train of thought. What was I talking
about?
BRINK: About basics and being on a college campus.
WELLS: Yeah. I mean that's the training that you do.
That's memorable that whole--the basic school--
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: --experience. My roommates were very
interesting. Two of them were married so they had
off base housing. The other two--one was a
brilliant guy who had one of the worst attitudes
that I have ever seen and what a fantastic guy he
was very, very bright, and my other roommate was a
surfer from Coronado, California, and the only
thing in his closet were Hawaiian shirts.
Hilarious. So I mean there's characters--and I
spent six months with those guys, and I think those
guys were the only reason that I made it through
because they were my sanity.
BRINK: So those were you roommates then?
WELLS: They were my roommates. There were four--
1-2--there were five of us--there were four of
us--four of us, okay, four of us and one was
married so he was out of the room at night.
BRINK: Gotcha.
WELLS: But the three of us were in this same--
there were two bunk beds in the room and then a
joining room where the shower was and then there
was our living room, and that's how we lived for
six months. And it was very memorable, you know,
all of the training that you went through.
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: Great guys I remember most of all. I still keep
in touch with them.
BRINK: That's good. Were you ever a prisoner of war?
WELLS: I was not.
BRINK: No? Were you awarded any medals or citations or
anything?
WELLS: Well, you know--overseas medal for or was that
a ribbon? I don't pay a whole lot of
attention to that. Navy Achievement Medal for
basically doing your job and not getting in
trouble, you do that. A medal for being activated
as a reservist. Medals like that
BRINK: Okay. So how did you get them, just by doing
your job?
WELLS: Yeah you would think--you do your job well
that's the way I look at doing my job. You never
really look for a medal.
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: You just try--the way I approach it is I try and
take care of the people that are under my charge
make sure their doing--getting everything that they
need.
BRINK: Mh mm.
WELLS: So there's never been a real a careerist
mentality with me. I've never really been
concerned with medals or--
BRINK: --like awards or anything like that?
WELLS: --what do I do next. Yeah it's just making sure
that you're doing you're job and you're doing it
well.
BRINK: Like the then and there, then?
WELLS: Yeah. Of course you're always thinking about,
you know--I think about what would be interesting
for me to do next like the unit I'm with now.
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: I never thought I would be with a unit like
that. But yeah you do your job, you do it well,
you hope that you're doing some good and awards
come eventually, I guess.
BRINK: Okay. How did you stay in touch with your
family?
WELLS: I called and I wrote. I actually--I
remember--my brother my middle brother, was a
criminal justice major at John Jay, and when you're
a criminal justice major at John Jay--which is the
only criminal justice school in the country--people
come to see you. All the services, the secret
service, the FBI, the DEA, they all come and they
do job fairs there. And I remember I had--you
talked about how I got in--I remember he came home
with a folder this thick [indicated with hands]
with all of those organizations.
BRINK: Wow.
WELLS: And I pulled out the Marine Corps, I think I
pulled out the Coast Guard too and I said
"this is--I remember that day--"this is what I want
to do." I was sitting on my bed and he pulled out
this whole thing, and he wanted to be a state
trooper. He wanted to be a New Jersey State
Police. They're bad--they're bad ***. Anyway--you
can edit that later--I said this is what I wanted
to do, and I remember when I was at OCS I wrote him
and I said, "Rory, you're not going to believe
this, all these guys are huge. They're all fit,
they're in shape, they're smart, they do all kinds
of things." And I was telling him about all the
guys I met and I remember--was I in TBS--I can't
remember when it was, but I remember getting a
letter back from him saying, "I just joined the
Marine Corps."
So my brother joined and I think that letter might have
had a lot to do with it. So my middle brother
joined, that was interesting, you know.
BRINK: So did he do like some of the same work you did
WELLS: He actually went to Okinawa as well, but he
spent his whole career in Okinawa he spent three
and half, four years on Okinawa with his wife.
Okinawa is interesting, if you're not married you
go there for a year, if you're married you go there
for three years.
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: And he spent all of his time there. He enjoyed
himself.
BRINK: That's good. How often did you call your
family.
WELLS: At first probably too often. Especially being
that I didn't have a phone card. So I called them
collect which wasn't--probably didn't appreciate
that a whole lot. Called a lot of buddies too,
collect too. They must have been like, dude
what's going on with the collect calls? But you
know you just want--
BRINK: To talk to people?
WELLS: Yeah. You really do.
BRINK: Just kind of get open to the world?
WELLS: Well you know what happens you tend--like most
things you tend to take it for granted--
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: And when it's taken away from you, like the
ability not to talk to your friends for weeks--
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: --guys that you called everyday, now you can't
do that any more.
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: You know, "hey, lets go get a pizza." You don't
do that anymore. "Want to go to the mall"? You
don't do that anymore. "Lets go to New York and
walk around Washington Square Park." You don't do
that anymore. Now--
BRINK: You're stuck where you are.
WELLS: --you are training. You are focused on getting
through the next day. You're more focused on about
when your next meal is coming, you know, because
you're starving because you have been working so
hard and being--so all those things, it's no more.
So when you do get a free--
BRINK: So you're cut off from the world?
WELLS: --moment, yeah, you want to get in contact with
that. You want to talk to them and say, "hey
what's going on"? It's almost an attempt to get
back to what you had before, even though I never
wanted to go back.
BRINK: You didn't?
WELLS: Oh no, never. Always--I was always looking
forward. I think that's one of the things it
taught me, because when you get taken away from
that you find out who you are more so than in the
bubble of your parents' safe home.
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: When you get taken away and you're on your own
and you're given a tremendous amount of
responsibility, which the Marine Corps will do for
you, you find out who you are and you start looking
forward you don't necessarily--you appreciate the
past but you don't--
BRINK: Dwell on it.
WELLS: No. And you don't want to go back.
BRINK: Yeah. Was the food--what was the food
like.
WELLS: Plentiful. The food was plentiful and fit for
human consumption.
BRINK: So it was good then?
WELLS: It was plentiful.
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: Was it good? I mean it's amazing how much we
ate and how much--and we're talking about your
officer candidate school, you know it was plentiful
and you ate a lot and you still lost. I lost 27
pounds.
BRINK: Wow.
WELLS: But the chow halls now are--they're pretty good
I think they do a good job. A lot of it's
contracted out now.
BRINK: What kind of food is it?
WELLS: It depends. You can get omelets, in the
morning, you know, you get sandwiches, burgers,
chicken, for lunch. You can get the same for
dinner. Normal buffet style.
BRINK: Mh mm.
WELLS: Remember I told you that we started downsizing
military--
BRINK: Yeah
WELLS: --because of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: A consequence of that is we started using more
and more of our folks for combat related stuff, so
we really never--we don't operate chow halls any
more. That's contracted out. So independent
companies do that for us now. And they do--the
foods good, you know. Even our MRE's are good now.
MRE's are meals ready to eat. They've come a long
way. Now you can open those packs up and get pop
tarts, you can get real tuna in a bag, you
get--that's one thing that's--there's many but
that's one notable things that's improved quite a
bit. The foods good.
BRINK: That's good. Did you have plenty of supplies?
WELLS: We--we get plenty of supplies. We--our gear
that we have now is excellent. My last training I
just got a new sweat suit, the Marine Corps running
suit.
BRINK: Mh mm.
WELLS: And it's nice. I mean they're really providing
top-notch gear. Cold-weather gear, rain gear, gear
that's not going to break on you. They really
focus on making sure that you have the equipment
that you need and that's--you know you never feel
that you're lacking. There's always
something--that's your responsibility to take care
of your gear. I think it's a big deal.
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: But yeah, the gear is.
BRINK: Okay. Did you feel pressure or stress at all?
WELLS: Stress, yes. Yeah, I mean you're--because
there's always--time is a valuable resource, if you
call time a resource. It's a thing that you're
always trying to use well--
BRINK: Mh mm.
WELLS: --manage well in what ever that you're doing,
because you're part of a big system, and you have
to be on time to make sure everyone else is on
time.
BRINK: So if one part of the system fails the whole
system could fail.
WELLS: It--well it doesn't necessarily have to fail, it
may not be optimal.
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: It may not as good as it could be. So operating
in that type of environment can be stressful. In
the beginning when you're in--when you're trying to
become a Marine Corps or a Marine or a soldier
you're stressed, because you're becoming something
else, honestly. Remember I said, before I figured
out that I was the one that was going to have to
change--
BRINK: Mh mm.
WELLS: That's stressful, because you're trying to be
who you are and fit into this organization--
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: --that says we don't want that type of person in
here. We want a disciplined person who thinks of
other people, who works hard, and if the work
doesn't get done you make sure it gets done. So
you want that type of person. You're coming from
college, your like, hey. They're like, no.
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: You need to figure that out. So in the
beginning that part was stressful and then you're
always wanting to do a good job. That's something
you can relate to, you always want to do well and
if you don't do well you put stress on yourself.
So in that regard it was stressful as well. You
know.
BRINK: Was there anything you carried around that was
special, or you did for good luck or something?
WELLS: No
BRINK: No?
WELLS: I don't--
BRINK: All right. How would people entertain
themselves?
WELLS: Stories. I think Marines are some of the
greatest story tellers ever. Either it's talking
about home or talking about things that they have
done or places they have been or talking about
other Marines. The stories are just endless.
They're endless. So, you know, at night when you
get a free moment, you know, you--you know, you
either get your chewing tobacco or you get your
cigar or whatever it is and you get in a group of
guys and you tell--talk about things, and that's
entertainment. So that's--I mean brilliant people
with great stories.
BRINK: Were there any entertainers that were hired or
anything?
WELLS: I--there are things like that. USO things and I
know there's--I know right now there's mixed
martial arts fights that happen on bases and things
like that. We have--we have--what used to be
called MWR, morale and welfare and recreation and
now it's like a Marine Corps services which
provides all kinds of things from cabins that you
can rent on the beach or wherever, to all kinds of
equipment, softball equipment, they have all that.
All this recreational equipment. We have--there's
all kinds of activities always on the base, and
sometimes there--there could be guest that are
hired--
BRINK: Mh mm.
WELLS: --but there's--that is a big part of morale
whereas they make sure that there are activities
that there are things to keep you occupied. Things
that keep you fit. That's a large part of what the
leadership tries to maintain. An active lifestyle
and entertainment is part of that.
BRINK: What did you do when you were on leave?
WELLS: visited home, traveled, hung out.
BRINK: Where did you travel to?
WELLS: I went to Spain, England, Key West, Florida. I
did--that was a military leave, those where
military flights that didn't cost anything. You
just show up in uniform and you travel.
BRINK: That's cool.
WELLS: Yeah. It's--I flew round trip to Spain for $10.
BRINK: Wow.
WELLS: Yeah. Bahamas. When I was stationed in San
Diego, I didn't need to go anywhere. I just went
to the beach.
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: So that's, you know, what I would do on leave.
BRINK: Where did you travel while you were in the
service?
WELLS: First was Okinawa, Japan, you know. I did some
training in Korea. In reserve I did some training
in Norway and anywhere else? And a lot of training
in the states. Canada, I went there as well.
BRINK: Do you recall any, like, practical jokes or any
unusual events or anything or just funny events
that happened?
WELLS: There are countless, I guess, if I just thought
of them. I mean--it's just little things, you
know. I'm always conscious of where I am. I think
when I'm with marines--because they're just
interesting animals, we are interesting animals,
and I think just getting to know them just makes
you aware of where your are. Jokes, I mean there's
always jokes. I can't tell jokes which is terrible
I cant--I don't know how to tell stories. I can't
tell jokes. I can just listen and take it all in.
So even if I did know a joke right now, I wouldn't
tell you because I'm not good at it.
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: But there are many. You know the time where I
opened my roommates closet and all I saw was
Hawaiian shirts. I think that was one of the
funniest things and he was very proud of that.
What an interesting character.
BRINK: Would anyone would pull pranks on one another?
WELLS: They would--I never got involved with that I
don't know like, you know, I'm not in to practical
jokes. Usually there's some sort of, you know,
even if it's minor, malicious intent. That was
never--I was always, you know, hanging out with
folks who didn't--I'm not a practical joker.
BRINK: Okay. Do you have photographs of when you were
in the service.
WELLS: I have some. I'm not a big photo guy. Which is
probably unfortunate, because I don't have many
photos of that time. There's probably some photos
at home, you know, me and a helicopter, me holding
a weapon. I think for the longest time my mom had
the photo of when I first got my head shaved?
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: She had that on the door. I have a funny shaped
head. Like I could never go bald. I realized that
right then. You will never go bald, or you will
never go bald on purpose. Like so many people are
doing now days, because my head is shaped so funny.
BRINK: Yeah. What did you think of your officers and
your fellow soldiers?
WELLS: I think--I mean I think they were extraordinary.
Of course you don't get along with everyone, but
you know there is always--it's being around people
that appreciate the core values that you hold dear.
You know the core values in Marine Corps are honor,
courage, and commitment. Honor, being acting
responsibly, right?
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: And doing what is responsible. Courage means
doing what is right. Having the mental, physical
and moral strength to do what is right.
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: And commitment is, showing the spirit of
dedication toward--toward the service, toward your
country, toward your fellow Marines. So when
you're around people that have those and hold those
core values dear, I mean, it's extraordinary and
it's an extraordinary culture. It's a culture
within this--within an American culture that
appreciates it so much, and the individuals that
participate in that are, I mean, they are heroes.
BRINK: Did you ever keep a personal diary while you
were there?
WELLS: I tried. I didn't--I keep diaries and keep
thoughts down. Not really memories of what
happened.
BRINK: Just thoughts of--
WELLS: Ideas. You know, I mean--you know trying to
clarify or to become--have a stronger
definition of what freedom means. You know, what
liberty means. What does it mean to me, what
should it mean to me things, like that. You know,
to try and live a life within the core values of
honor, courage, and commitment is a very difficult
thing.
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: And it's a difficult thing to live up to and in
order for you to live up to that, you need to get
your mind right. You have to think right, you have
to act right, and, you know, you have to do right.
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: You don't always think right, you don't always
act right, and you're like, why did I do that, or
how can I do that differently.
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: So--I don't remember the question.
BRINK: Did you keep a personal diary?
WELLS: Oh yeah. So all the things that helped me, you
know, work through that, reflect on things I put
that in a diary. Not necessary, you know, May
11th, I was out with the troops this day.
BRINK: Just random--
WELLS: Random type things.
BRINK: No specific dates just random thoughts--
WELLS: Right.
BRINK: --little events and stuff?
WELLS: Right.
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: Thinking about books that I'm reading at the
time.
BRINK: Did you recall the day your service ended or
when you went on reserve or anything?
WELLS: I do remember that. That was interesting. I
got out, and I wanted out. I didn't want to go in
and I was going to go into education or
hospitality. So I started getting my teaching
certificate, and I went to work in a hotel. Those
were the two things that I wanted to do. I quickly
realized, that hospitality was not for me.
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: Because of the simple fact the customer is not
always right, and when the customer is not right
you can't choke them.
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: So hospitality that doesn't. Education, so I
was going for my education certificate and I was
in class. I was going to class and I turned the
corner and I ran into this guy that I had been in
TBS with. You know that six month school, and I
was like, "what's going on man", and he said, "Hey,
what are you doing, I'm part of a reserve unit up
in Camp Pendleton, we need someone with your
military specialty." He was like come on up. I
was like are you kidding and I remember--and that
had been six, seven months after I got off of
active duty, and I remember how I felt when I sat
down in that class after we parted.
BRINK: Did you offers--did you--were you right on
reserve after you got off active duty or were you
just out?
WELLS: Well when you sign your contract--
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: --you are four years active duty and four years
reserve. That four years reserve you don't have to
participate you're in what's called an inactive
ready reserve.
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: And I think the only thing you have to do is
make sure that someone has your phone number. So
you can either do that or you can be the SMCR,
Select Marine Corp Reserve, which is what I'm in
right now participating. He was trying--he
mentioned about the SMCR unit, a light armor
reconnaissance unit, that was up and I took his
information down, I pulled my uniform back out, I
put it on, I went up to see this unit and talk to
some of the guys, and I haven't looked back since.
Been in the reserve for 12 years.
BRINK: Wow. Where were you when you ended?
WELLS: End of active duty?
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: In Camp Pendelton, California. I was living by
the beach. It was the good life.
BRINK: What did you do, like, in the weeks or the days
after?
WELLS: I volunteered my time at a horse stable.
BRINK: Wow.
WELLS: I just--I had a motorcycle at the time, I drove
up to this horse stable and I asked the guy, I said
can I hang around here and play with your horses
and he was like yeah, you know, and I become pretty
good friends with the guy. He used to let me ride.
You know, something I always wanted to do.
Just--you know he would let me feed them. What's
cool is I would go--he would go buy or look for
horses as investments for other people, so would go
to all of these ranches in San Diego--
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: --that had horses to sell and that was
phenomenal. I loved that, ranches.
BRINK: Did you go back and visit your family at all?
No? You just stayed with the horses?
WELLS: Yeah. I didn't go back home. I was in San
Diego. I told--look if it wasn't for my wife, I
would still be in San Diego. I wasn't coming back
home. I was going to be out by the beach. I was
teaching out there. I wasn't coming home, you
know, but you know.
BRINK: Did you work or go back to school? You went
back to school right?
WELLS: I went back to school. You know just to get the
teaching certificate, and I taught for a
couple years in San Diego before I came to West
BRINK: What did you teach in San Diego?
WELLS: Fourth, fifth, and sixth grade.
BRINK: Okay. Was your--was your education paid by the
GI bill?
WELLS: My teaching certificate was. Yeah. I used the
GI bill when I got out and I was going for a
teaching certificate and my master's degree. I
used it all up. Used it all up. It was certainly
a good thing to do. Good investment, you know.
BRINK: You made good friendships while you were in the
service right?
WELLS: Oh the best. I mean some of my closest friends
right now have been in the Marine Corps.
BRINK: That's good. And you've continue with those
friendships, right?
WELLS: Oh yeah.
BRINK: You've kept in contact?
WELLS: I keep in contact whenever I'm, you know--last
time I was--I was in--I was in Massachusetts with
a unit and we were coming to California to do some
training and I called my roommate, the Hawaiian
shirt surfer roommate, and I said I'm going to be
in San Diego. I was literally seven minutes from
his house.
BRINK: Wow.
WELLS: Where we were staying and I got to go and see
him and his wife and his family. And he's still in
Coronado he's not surfing any more. Well, he is
surfing but he's not a lifeguard any more. He's a
banker, but I keep in contact with him. Then my
other really good buddy he's in Honduras right now.
We keep in contact in e-mail. He just got married,
but he was in my wedding. There's another guy that
I see in New York, you know. His mom lives in New
York I was coming from New Jersey back to
Connecticut. He's in North Carolina right now. He
was in New York visiting his mom. Got a call from
him. I said, I'm on my way home I'm coming through
New York let's stop. So we met up. It's like
that. I make an effort to keep in contact with
them. I mean these guys are great.
BRINK: Did you join a veteran's organization?
WELLS: No. Well Marine Corps Reserve Officers
Association. Which is you can say it's a
veterans organization.
BRINK: Okay.
WELLS: But not like my father, who's a VFW guy.
BRINK: What did you go on to do as a career after the
war? Just teacher?
WELLS: I came back to teaching when I was activated. I
mean that's what I plan on doing.
BRINK: Did your military experience influence your
thinking about war or about the military in
general?
WELLS: No. I mean it strengthen it, you know. I
think--I mean, I wasn't sent to a combat
environment, but I was away from my family and wife
for a year. I mean that's--just you do it. You
serve, you realize that it may be difficult--well
it is difficult on your family to be separate for
any--well even when I go away for weekends now,
it's tough. So you know, now you have all the kids
at home. You know they're asking about you, and
you know at this point there are people who have
been deployed three or four times to Iraq,
Afghanistan--
BRINK: Wow.
WELLS: --overseas, and I just--it's just incredible. It
must be an incredible hardship on their family and
I'm always conscious of that because the unit I
command right now we send platoon--well we're
sending two platoons of Marines next month to Iraq.
not. You be like how did your life effect your
life, you know what I mean?
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: It's--I mean being in the Marine Corps, if you
look it's changed--it's a perspective thing, you
know. You realize either from your own experience
or from the experiences of people you know and work
BRINK: Mm hmm
WELLS: And people that you know that have lost their
lives and the effect on that family. You realize
that their--what we hold dear or what we should
hold dear in this country, the liberty and the
ideas that we hold dear that must--that is not
military is a big part of that enforcement. You
know, how does that effect--has that had an effect
on my life? Yeah. I don't think I take--I hope I
don't take as many things for granted as I would.
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: Because I'm in the service, because
you're--because at any point you can be sent
somewhere and not have the things, the comfort
things of life, or you may be separated from your
kids or your wife or mixed in a period of time.
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: So that often helps to snap back in to it and
helps you not to take those things for granted. I
certainly appreciate that. I think that's one of
the worst things that someone could do is take
time for granted, family for granted, living in a
free country for granted, being able to go to
school for granted. These things aren't given.
BRINK: I think a lot of people do though.
WELLS: Well I--you know it's part--it's a nature of the
beast in a sense that having those things. You
tend-- that's just the way the mind works I think.
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: It doesn't necessarily have to be that way. I
think you have to put some thought and energy into
it. I think that has a lot--I think teaching has a
lot to do with that too. Explaining those parts of
the culture that aren't universal. How we live is
not universal. Pick up a paper it's not
universal.
WELLS: So your like, okay what's the difference? What
is the difference between that country and this
country? Say well, I've traveled to France, I've
traveled to London, England, their people. I've
traveled to Japan, their people, they work--they
work hard. What's the difference? I think a big
part of that is the way that our government is set
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: And the way that our society is set up. Given
our constitution and what it facilitate as far as
human capacity and the way we can live our lives
and just remarkable, you know. I don't know. I
certainly don't take that for granted.
BRINK: Yeah.
WELLS: You know, because you know that type of thing is
going to allow my family, you know, provide for a
common defense, general welfare, and posterity.
All that good stuff.
BRINK: Is there anything else you want to add?
WELLS: No. I think--you know I had--I gave a talk at a
veteran's association a couple years ago and my
message--I mean these guys were from Korea, the
WELLS: Vietnam War. I mean these are guys that I
idolize because of what they have been through and
the call that they answered. So I was like well
what could I say to them other than rest assured
that I love the Marine Corps just as you have.
BRINK: Mm hmm.
WELLS: But I asked them, you know, there's one thing
that you could do, it's tell your story. Tell your
story. Tell your grandchildren, tell your stories.
As small as it could be, as long as it could be, as
short, long winded. Anything--any narrative that
you could give to your family, friends, and
associates, just tell the story. I think it goes a
long way. So I think, you know, what you're doing
here is important.