Not many Marine recruits have a sense of deja vu when they step off of the bus on the first day of boot camp; but then again, Rodney Gonsalves was not your average Marine.
“My father died when I was very young, and my mom was trying to raise my two younger brothers and me by herself — which was very tough. Then she found some assistance from a very unique program.”
Not many Marine recruits have a sense of deja vu when they step off of the bus on the first day of boot camp; but then again, Rodney Gonsalves was not your average Marine.
“My father died when I was very young, and my mom was trying to raise my two younger brothers and me by herself — which was very tough. Then she found some assistance from a very unique program.”
The program was called the Young Marines, and it took boys all the way down to seven years of age and molded them into responsible young men in much the same way as the military branch did, through discipline, pride, and by fostering a sense of responsibility. Gonsalves, age 12 at the time, couldn’t wait to join.
“Our drill instructor was Sergeant Souza, who was instrumental in starting the Young Marine Program and had been in the Marine Corps during the Korean Conflict. He was very strict, but he was very fair.”
The Young Marine boot camp lasted for approximately one year, and Rodney and his two younger brothers; one aged 10, the other eight, all graduated successfully. Rodney had been recognized as the outstanding graduate of the cycle, and for his exemplarity performance, he was given his own platoon to command.
“At the tender age of thirteen,”he recalls proudly. “I became a junior drill instructor.”
Besides training and drilling at their meetings, the Young Marines also were able to go on some very exciting field trips throughout the years.
“We visited West Point, Camp Lejeune and then at one point, we got to go to Parris Island, South Carolina. I loved it, and it was then that I realized that I wanted to come back here again. I wanted to experience the real Marine boot-camp, and to become a Marine.”
He left the Young Marines at the age of 16 to concentrate on his studies, and then in 1979 joined the Marine reserves and returned to Parris Island. Having been through the Young Marine program for several years had prepared him well, and he pretty much breezed through boot camp. As easy as it was on him compared to the other recruits though, the DI’s still enjoy finding a chink in the armor and exploiting it.
“We were standing on line and it was a hot day and so we had our shirts off. The D.I. was strutting up and down the ranks and talking and when he got to me, a fly landed on my bare chest. The D.I. and I both knew that I wanted to swat it, and so he egged me on.”
“You want to swat that fly, don’t you Private Gonsalves?”the D.I. asked.
“I knew that I couldn’t, and so I said, ‘no sir.’”
Then the fly started to bite Gonsalves – hard, and blood began to trickle down his chest. The D.I. continued unabated.
“Now you REALLY want to swat that fly, don’t you Private Gonsalves?”he asked again.
“No sir.”
The fly finally flew off and the D.I. moved on. Gonsalves survived the incident, and avoided what would have been a quick date with “incentive physical training”for giving the wrong answer.
Biting insects not withstanding, boot camp also provided some more enjoyable experiences and one that Gonsalves could have scarcely imagined.
“We were out training at a remote part of the base when all of a sudden I saw a bus filled with Young Marines pull up –along with my old drill instructor and mentor Sgt. Souza. It took some convincing to my Senior D.I., but I was finally able to leave my platoon momentarily to go say thanks to the man who had been such an integral part of my life. What a reunion it was, even for a brief moment"
After boot camp Gonsalves was trained as an air traffic controller and he stayed in the reserves until 2002.
In the meantime, he joined the Gardena Police Department where he is an Administrative Sergeant. He is also in charge of the department’s Honor Guard, as well as teaching drill to the Police Explorers.
Two years ago, Gonsalves’Young Marine Drill Instructor Sgt. Souza passed away. Rodney attended the funeral proudly in his dress blues and was taken aback when Sgt. Souza’s son asked him to stand by the casket until the cemetery workers could lower it into the ground.
“It would be an honor and I'll take good care of him,”Gonsalves quickly responded.
He stood at parade rest guarding the casket until the workers arrived a short time later. And as they lowered it into the ground, First Sgt. Rodney Gonsalves gave a final salute to the person who had done so much to mold him into the man he is today.
To nominate a veteran or share your own story, please go to Gardena Honored Veterans website at www.ci.gardena.ca.us/Stories/honored%20veterans.html.
Christopher J. Lynch is a Gardena resident and is the author of Eddie: The life and times of America’s preeminent bad boy, an authorized biography of Ken Osmond, the actor who played the unctuous truant Eddie Haskel on Leave it to Beaver. Log on at http://www.christopherjlynch.com"www.christopherjlynch.com
