I KNEW EDDIE RIGGINS

Chapter 1 WE 'ARE ' TOUGH ENOUGH!! While the Korean War was in progress I watched for the weekend newspaper and the enclosed Parade magazine on Sundays. Every week the magazine featured a recent Medal of Honor winner in Korea. A lot of them were Marines and knowing the history of the Marines in World War II, I was determined to become a Marine. During the 1950’s several movies were made about our Second World War battles and the people in them. The one that stood out for me was Battle Cry, written by Leon Uris a Marine who had been there. I remember watching the movie showing the tough training and blisters and blood on the feet and I thought what a challenge? One of my friends, Harold whom graduated the class before me came home from Marine Boot Camp that winter and I went to visit. He looked well and had all his Marine clothing set out. We talked for some time and he played down the harshness of boot camp. He showed me his Platoon Album and the various training a Marine has to go through. He did mention the Everly Brothers and their being in boot camp. It bothered me a little that the DI’s were very much harder on them because of their celebrity status. After all Elvis, it seemed had a camera crew with him all through basic training. By the time I went home I was more convinced than ever that I needed that challenge. Growing up in the Wenatchee River Valley, the Apple Capital of the world during the 1950's was a magical experience. We were basically good kids from good families but we tended to put a little pressure on our adults and especially the school staff. My family had settled in the local area around 1907, originally from Austria.. Since a lot of us kids lived on orchards we had Jeeps to drive. I drove my first time at age 14. Jeeps were necessary around orchards because with the windshield laid down they went under the fruit on the trees. Our irrigation canals were high on the mountains and until Jeeps my dad, brother or me, whoever cleaned the trash from our water separation boxes had to climb the mountains twice a day. With the advent of Jeeps we could drive up to the canal. My dad never knew how much fun we had in our Jeeps when he wasn't around. We went on many drives in the mountains and would play ditch’em around town at night. Hot summer nights with the Jeep windshield down have become a lifelong remembrance for me.