Seamus recently took a trip to Ireland and wasn’t sending out All Hands emails while he was gone. I’m happy to report that Seamus is back in the States and is passing word on All Hands once again.

Seamus wrote how he first met SgtMaj Rockwell and that story in itself is amazing. There is a video of event available for purchase on Seamus’ site. Seamus and the SgtMaj have given so much of themselves to the Corps that the Corps could never repay them. Unfortunately, the rest of his this email brings a tear to my eye. SgtMaj Rockwell, a very good friend of Seamus’ and a brother-in-arms to us both, is very ill with cancer.

Please keep the SgtMaj in your prayers.

All Hands:

I got back from 10 days in Ireland last Sunday night. We had a super trip and the sun was shining every day. I waited until now to fire up the All Hands, to see how a very good friend was doing. He was in sick bay when I left and I was hoping to see him greatly improved and off the sick, lame, and lazy list when I got back from Ireland. I did not want to post this All Hands.

In 1971, a Marine Corporal from Gettysburg, Billy Wilson, walked into a bunker just off Hill 55 in Vietnam, and got both his legs blown off, above his knees. He was blinded in one eye and lost some fingers. After a year at Philadelphia Naval Hospital, Cpl Wilson came back to Gettysburg and went to work at the Hillside, a small pub south of Gettysburg.

In the spring of 1989, I was having a couple of beers and swapping lies with Cpl Wilson, at the Hillside, when he said it would be really neat to have a set of Marine Corps “Blues” to be buried in. He said he was not ready to be buried yet, but it still would be neat to have this uniform. I thought if ever a Marine had earned a set of Blues, it was Billy Wilson.

On 10 June, 1989, the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen Al Gray, came to Gettysburg and pinned the Bronze Star with Combat “V” and a Purple Heart on Billy Wilson’s Blues. In planning this operation, I needed a guy to keep the media away from the General and the Corporal, as this was to be a “Marine Corps” day, not just some media event. The guy I found to do this was a leather tough, straight shootin’, hard as nails, squared away, Marine Corps Sergeant Major, SgtMaj Russ Rockwell.

The Sergeant Major fought in Korea and did 3 tours in Vietnam. He wears the Bronze Star with Combat “V”, the Purple Heart, and a chest full of medals. And he and I are very good friends.

Since Billy Wilson’s Blues, the Sergeant Major and I have done Marine Corps Steaks & Beers (MCS&B) for countless thousands of Marines. He has done countless Professional Military Education (PME’s) on all the rifles carried by Marines, from the flintlock of the Continental Marines up to the M-14 used in Vietnam. We have done hundreds of “Have Steaks Will Travel” to Marine Corps units as far away as Parris Island, SC. SgtMaj Rockwell has guided, counseled, and helped Marines all his life. Now he needs some big time help.

In July, the Sergeant Major broke his right arm while lifting an empty GI can. It was determined that this was a pathological fracture, which means that a tumor in his arm wore away the bone and made it break. This was the first sign of a problem for a guy that is too tough to hurt.

I was able to get in to visit him yesterday afternoon, and his wife, Mary, asks that All Hands pray for a miracle, because that is the only thing that will keep him alive. Cancer is all through his bones, and he is not even able to keep his eyes open.

Mary says they do not want any cards or any e-mails, just prayers for a miracle.

SgtMaj Rockwell and I have made many friends, together, since Billy Wilson’s Blues, and I do not know of any other way to let you all know about this.

Pray for our friend.

Semper Fi,
Seamus