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MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. - California's High
Desert has become home for countless veterans over the years. But
what are the chances of three friends from two Texas cities no more
than 150 miles apart joining the Corps in 1947, coming to Barstow in
the 1950s, and remaining there for more than 60 years?
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July 2, 2013 - Rudy Villareal, Henry
Torres, and Oscar Valenzuela, residents of Barstow, Calif., and
former Marines, discuss what life was like when they served in the
Marine Corps in the 1940s and '50s. The three Texas natives have
been together for more than 60 years. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by
Cpl. Thomas Bricker)
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Oscar Valenzuela and Henry Torres from Corpus Christi and
Rudy Villareal from San Antonio joined the Marine Corps and
continued on paths that would keep the three of them
together for the next six decades.
In the summer of
1947, three young men from Texas signed up to become a part
of the few and the proud. Although World War II had recently
come to an end, and the Korean War had not begun, tensions
were still high due to the United States' involvement in the
Cold War. This didn't damper the drive Valenzuela, Villareal,
or Torres had to enlist in the slightest.
“There
wasn't much for me to do back home so I wanted to join the
Marines,” said Valenzuela, one of the Corpus Christi men.
“I didn't want to stay home and get mixed up in the
wrong stuff so I decided to leave and do something good for
my life,” he added.
Valenzuela and Villareal left in
July for recruit training; Torres was only a month behind
the platoon in boot camp known as the "Texas Platoon"
because of the high number of recruits from the Lone Star
State.
After their training at Marine Corps Recruit
Depot San Diego and their military occupational specialty
training at Camp Pendleton, the self-deemed "three
musketeers" were sent to a new kind of territory: Hawaii and
the Marianas Islands.
“It was like a deployment for
us,” explained Villareal, the San Antonio native.
“When we went over to Guam, it was for 18 months,” he added.
The three Marines each performed different jobs while in
the Pacific.
While Torres served as an
administrative Marine in Hawaii, Valenzuela worked in an ice
plant and Villareal worked as a driver for officers in Guam.
Again, the three musketeers would end up in the same
area upon completion of their tours in the Pacific. The next
spot on their tour would be their last. Enter ... Barstow,
Calif.
It was the early 1950s and after the three
had arrived in California, Valenzuela and Villareal worked
for the fire department on base (then Barstow Annex, Marine
Corps Depot of Supplies) while Torres continued with his
administrative work in the Corps.
“I was an engineer
with the fire department when I got to Barstow,” Villareal
explained. “I worked with Oscar there while Torres worked
for the chief warrant officer over at the headquarters
building,” he said.
One by one, Valenzuela, Torres,
and Villareal got out of the Marine Corps after their
enlistments were over but remained in Barstow, and in some
form or fashion, stayed connected to the Marine Base.
Valenzuela and Villareal continued their work at the
fire department while Torres became a materiel handler on
the base's Yermo annex. During their time at the fire
department, Valenzuela and Villareal became involved in
other jobs as well.
“I started to get involved at
the golf course on base after it was built,” explained
Valenzuela. “I helped out there by giving lessons,” he
added.
Villareal started a construction company while
working at the fire department and after retiring, worked
there until he passed the business to his son.
Throughout the years, the three musketeers have kept in
contact with one another and get together periodically to
catch up on what's new and reminisce about old memories.
“I spend a lot of time now in Ventura. So when one of
the guys call me, they usually ask ‘OK, are you in Barstow
or Ventura,'” explained Villareal.
When in Barstow,
he tries to visit and catch up with Valenzuela and Torres,
Villareal added.
When Valenzuela, Torres, and
Villareal get together, the Marine Corps is sure to be a
topic of conversation with the three, whether it's
re-telling stories about their days in the Corps, or talking
about the state of today's Marines.
One thing is
certain though: it's not often three men from any state join
the Marine Corps and stay together through their entire
enlistment. It's even more uncommon to find these very same
men 60 years later in the place where they ended their time
in the Corps. Sixty years and the three musketeers remain
undivided.
By USMC Cpl. Thomas Bricker
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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