Marine Corps veteran meets challenge

Thomas Wellman took it personal when he met with recruiters from different military branches and a Marine Corps recruiter expressed doubt he’d be able to endure the training.

Wellman decided to take the challenge and was on a bus to Parris Island for basic training. He quickly learned about discipline and the emphasis on teamwork.

After basic training, he was assigned to a recoilless rifle platoon at Camp Lejeune, N.C. His unit went on a Mediterranean cruise where his unit practiced landings in different locations. The cruise included port calls in Italy, France, Greece, Spain, Libya and North Africa.

The cruise was extended two months because of the Cuban Missile Crisis, which Wellman said was not upsetting because it was fun duty. He realized early on that he liked serving in the Corps and planned to make it a career. He volunteered for electronics school, where he was trained to maintain and repair equipment that coded and decoded classified messages.

He was stationed in California at 29 Palms Marine Corps base when he got orders to Vietnam. He earned a special commendation for extinguishing a burning truck containing 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel near a command center that would have exploded if he had not taken action.