Etiam In Pugnia - Still In The Fight

The Marine Corps takes care of its own.   This is a statement that Marines accept as part of the special nature of the Corps.  One of the primary objectives of boot camp is to teach recruits that they must learn to depend on each other and to be dependable in return.  Without the strength of that bond, the Corps would not have successfully met the challenges that it has overcome throughout its history.

The bond between Marines continues, and is in fact strengthened, when a Marine is wounded or injured.  When injury, through combat or other cause,  prevents a Marine from functioning in his or her unit, assignment to the Wounded Warrior Regiment facilitates his or her return to their unit or to civilian life, with attention to the many aspects that must be part of a smooth transition.  Headquartered in Quantico VA, the Wounded Warrior Regiment is comprised of Wounded Warrior Battalion East, based at Camp Lejeune, and Wounded Warrior Battalion West, at Camp Pendleton.  From these locations is managed a comprehensive web of resources, poised to help with healing the mind, body, and spirit of Marines in need.  This is an infrastructure unique to the Marine Corps and is strong testimony of the Corps' commitment to its Marines.  Complete information on this unit and its many services can be found at http://www.woundedwarriorregiment.org.

Gy Sgt Guillermo Tejada-Wounded Warrior

 In line with the Marine Corps objective of supporting the healing of wounded and injured Marines, the Marine Corps League maintains active outreach to those Marines on a local level.  Through the efforts of District Injured Support Coordinators (DISC), wounded and injured Marines have a local contact.  These are Marines who are located throughout the country to conduct face-to-face visits and telephone outreach to wounded, ill, and injured (WII) Marines and their families who are recovering within their assigned region. The DISCs assist WII Marines who are experiencing extensive transition challenges, convalescing at home and those who may be away from a local base or station’s resources. The DISCs assist Marines with psychological health, legal, benefits, employment, housing, and many other matters.  Marine Corps League Wounded Warrior Outreach in Massachusetts is coordinated by Jim Hastings.

MCL Coordinator Jim Hastings

Jim Hastings, a native of Framingham now residing in Bellingham, is able to interact with Wounded Warriors with a compassion and understanding that one only gains by having endured the same burden.  As a nineteen year old seeking to find himself in 1966, Jim joined the Marine Corps.  Knowing the physical and mental challenges that the Marine Corps offered in boot camp and beyond, did not deter young Hastings as he sought to prove to himself that he was up to whatever came his way.

The growing conflict in Viet Nam was the destination for many young Marines at that time but Jim Hastings was initially stationed at a Marine Detachment for a Naval Weapons Station in New Jersey.  Although he had an assignment that would be the envy of almost any other Marine, stationed with a childhood friend, with ready access to home, Jim volunteered for deployment to Viet Nam.  He received his orders on his 20th birthday.  Arriving in Viet Nam as a rifleman at a period of heavy action, Jim had ample opportunity to draw on his training and the dependence on his fellow Marines that is embedded in recruits in boot camp.  After a little more than nine months in country, Hastings was involved in an action that saw two fellow Marines wounded and pinned down by enemy fire.   With few options available, he and two compatriots took action.  Jim’s own account of the events can be viewed here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WEN7ooRVx4.    With multiple wounds, Jim was evacuated to the rear, ultimately returning to Chelsea Naval Hospital for recovery.

According to New England Regional DISC Master Sergeant Jonathan Braca, Jim Hastings brings a special quality to his interactions with Wounded Warriors.  As these Marines confront their individual challenges, Jim Hastings can approach them from the perspective of one who has been there.  Having been through his ordeal in an era when military service was not always viewed positively, Jim has the added credibility of having been tested and coming through, bent but not broken.

Master Sergeant Braca considers himself fortunate to have Jim Hastings in his arsenal of resources available to Wounded Warriors.  The Marine Corps, the Veteran’s Administration, Veteran Services Officers and other resources are all in place to help.  At times the most valuable resource is someone like Jim Hastings.  As Master Sergeant Braca states “ Jim is like a father figure, a living example that things are going to be all right.”  When dealing with a Wounded Warrior, M/Sgt Braca likes to insure that Jim Hastings is available to work as part of a “tiger team” of resources to assist on the path to recovery and progress.   He recalls a number of individuals with whom Jim has established ongoing contact with, all across the state and without hesitation.

Adaptive cycles for Wounded Warrior Competitors

It is the policy of the Wounded Warrior Regiment to treat the whole person, body, mind, and spirit.  Wounded Warriors are required to participate in activities that rebuild their bodies and their confidence.  M/Sgt Braca recently spent two weeks accompanying a Dutch contingent of Wounded Warriors at the Marine Corps Trials at Camp Pendleton.  At this event, Wounded Warriors from the Marine Corps and allied forces competed in events that demonstrated how they have achieved more physical capability during their recovery.  In track and field events, competitors in wheelchairs and with prosthetic limbs completed events seeking placement in the national Warrior Games.  Using adaptive bicycles, cyclists completed challenging courses through the hills of Camp Pendleton.  Firing ranges across the bases echoed with the rounds of marksmen and archers who competed to do their best.  Participation in athletics and competition accelerates the physical healing and gives these athletes increased confidence and activity to heal their minds.

Still connected - Still In The Fight

Jim Hastings is not an imposing physical presence but his contribution is immense.  Master Sergeant Braca and the Wounded Warrior Regiment look forward to his participation in the New England area and his visits to Quantico and Camp Lejeune as he brings the special connection with wounded warriors that only one of their own can have.  It is that connection that rounds off the healing of their bodies and their minds with the healing of their spirits.  The Massachusetts Marine Corps League is proud to have Jim Hastings at the forefront of Wounded Warrior outreach. 

Massachusetts Marine Corps League Marines of the Year

Each year, Marine Corps League Detachments select a member to be Marine of the Year.  In this space, we will recognize those Marines who have been chosen by their peers as having gone the extra mile in exemplifying the ideals of the Marine Corps.

A life of Service Acknowledged

Donald "Doc" Rivette

 Significant events in our youth can often have a long lasting, perhaps subtle effect on our lives.  For Donald “Doc” Rivette, a major injury while playing high school football in his hometown of Springfield, MA may have had a role in setting direction for the remainder of his life.  With hip and leg injuries requiring lengthy hospitalization in a body cast, Donald saw first-hand the contribution that medical practitioners make in the lives of individuals and organizations.   After discharge and recovery, young Donald participated in the Ludlow Volunteer Fire Department, working as an ambulance attendant while still in high school.  As a senior, he began working as an ambulance medic at Mercy Hospital while supplementing his training with coursework on the side.  In addition, Donald worked as a YMCA life guard and took advantage of additional training offered in that role.  While his football injury interrupted his path, it did not stop him completely.

After high school, Rivette was able to get into training as an operating room technician in North Hampton.  Going through a progression of on-the-job training assignments, he was eventually working in the operating room in a full capacity.  Through a family connection, he became aware of an opening at what is now Bay State Medical Center.  The bigger hospital offered more money and opportunity.  Having married and started a family, Donald took advantage of this career move, all the while continuing to pursue training as First Aid Instructor and Trainer.  As his family grew and the need for more income and opportunity arose, Rivette pursued employment in civil service as a Massachusetts Forest Fire Ranger in Western MA.   

Realizing that military service would help civil service employment, Rivette  joined a local Army Reserve  unit. Donald enlisted, completed his training, and served as a tank crewman.  As had been the case throughout his life, he continued to pursue training.  As he progressed in rank and responsibility, Donald ultimately was a tank commander.  During his six years in the Army Reserve, he complete Methods of Instruction training and was selected for the NCO Academy where he was given a leadership award.  At graduation he received a tank commander’s manual signed by  General Galvin.

Nearing the completion of a six year tour in the Army Reserve, Rivette became aware of a Navy program that credited prior service and training with accelerated rank.  The day after he separated from the Army, Donald joined the Navy.  With extensive training in the operating room, ambulance operations, first aid, and instruction techniques, he entered the Navy as a 2^nd Class Petty Officer (E-5) and was assigned duty as a Hospitalman.  After some initial training, Rivette was assigned to the USS Compton, based in the Boston Naval Annex.  This assignment brought him on cruises up and down the East Coast and into the Caribbean while still enabling him to get home to see his growing family.  After a year, he was transferred to the USS Intrepid for a brief stint as a flight deck Corpsman, followed by duty as a First Aid Instructor with a Sea Bee training unit at Quonset Point.  At this point, knowing that he wanted a career in the Navy. Rivette transitioned from reserve status to regular Navy.   With orders to the aircraft carrier Forrestall in 1968, Donald travelled to Norfolk, VA to report to the ship. Immediately on reporting in, he was told that he had new orders of assignment to the Marine Corps with posting to the Republic of Viet Nam. 

Preparation for deployment began with six weeks of training at the Field Medical School at Camp Lejeune and Camp Geiger, in part to get in physical shape to operate with the Marines and to train on the weapons that might be needed.   As is the case throughout the Marine Corps, every man is a rifleman.   With training completed, “Doc” Rivette reported to the 1^st Marine Division FMF Field Medical Unit at Chu Lai in 1968.  This 75 man unit provided medical support to diverse operations.  As result Doc Rivette accompanied patrols on Swift boats, accompanied combat foot patrols, participated in MEDCAP actions intended to assist local villagers, and was active in building the expanding infrastructure of a forward deployed medical unit.  Rivette was involved in the rescue of a Recon unit stranded in a hostile area when their rubber boat flipped.  He saw the unit grow from tents to larger hard-backed structures.  He assisted with providing medical aid to villagers in the area with an eye toward winning hearts and minds.

With a need for personnel who could communicate with villagers and captured enemy troops, Doc Rivette was sent to Vietnamese language school back in Okinawa.  While there, he heard that a Swift Boat that he had recently been on had been destroyed with all on-board being killed.  When he returned to Viet Nam, his own luck ran out on Easter Sunday when he was blown off his feet while on MEDCAP  patrol.  Following treatment in Japan, he returned to Chelsea Naval Hospital for recovery and reunion with his family, now expanded to four children.  Once recovered, Doc returned to independent duty on an ammunition ship for nine months. Injuries to his knee continued to be a growing problem and he was retired medically in 1970.  In the course of medical examinations, one doctor noticed that Doc Rivette had one leg that was one inch shorter than the other.  When Doc told him that this was the result of a high school football injury, he was asked how he was able to get in the service in the first place and how he was able to perform with that condition. Doc shared with him that for the entry physical, he borrowed a pair of shoes so the lift in his own would not be noticed.  While he was deployed, Doc always carried an extra heel so that he could make a repair in the field if needed.  With his military career completed, Doc Rivette returned home where he began a new career in civil service in the Registry of Motor Vehicles Police.  Along the way, he completed a degree in Criminal Justice and progressed from Inspector to Investigator, retiring in 1990 with 20 years of credited service.  He has also functioned as the Emergency Manager for the town of Ludlow, attending statewide seminars to develop emergency response procedures.

Doc Rivette has been a member of the Marine Corps League Westfield River Valley Detachment #141 since September 2000.  Early in his membership, he participated in developing and installing a plaque honoring service members at Agawam Cemetery, and a stone for the walk of honor at the same cemetery.  Doc has served as the detachment Ceremonial Officer, Quartermaster, and Judge Advocate.   He was active as liaison to the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home for the detachment and was instrumental in conducting regular events for the residents, both at the soldiers’ home and at the detachment headquarters.  Doc held the role of one of  the VAVS Coordinators for the detachment.  At the state level, Doc has been a Finance Officer for four years and Western MA Junior Vice Commandant, as well at the state liaison to the Holyoke Soldiers home.  In addition he is active in the Devil Dogs as the Dog Trainer and Quartermaster.

With military service in the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps, in addition to a civil service career in the Massachusetts Forest Service and law enforcement, Donald Rivette is no stranger to service as a way of life.  His continued participation as a member and leader in the Marine Corps League at both the detachment and state levels is testimony to his willingness to give back.  We join Westfield River Valley Detachment #141 Commandant Daniel Bishop and his detachment brethren in saluting Donald “Doc” Rivette for his many contributions to the Marine Corps League.