Platoon reunion: Members — all from Washington state — share memories, bond of Vietnam War

By Tom Callis 
Peninsula Daily News

Evergreen State Platoon members killed in action: 

? Donald Heider, Renton. 

? Graig Hemphill, Spokane. 

? Michael Duffy, Spokane. 

? Daniel Minor, Everett. 

? John Smith, Walla Walla. 

? David Smith, Silverdale.

CARLSBORG — They trained together, some fought together, and a few even graduated from high school together. 

On Saturday, 14 members of the “Evergreen State Platoon — 3041” — a group of Vietnam War Marine Corps recruits made up entirely of Washington state residents — gathered near the Dungeness River to rekindle memories and remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

The reunion, marking 43 years since they graduated from boot camp together, was full of laughter, with a few lighthearted jokes being tossed at the expense of Roy Gallihugh, the platoon’s boot camp commander. 

But the mood turned solemn when the names of the six platoon members killed in action in Vietnam were read. 

“It still hurts,” said Larry Plager, who read the names, and appeared choked up at times. 

“We’re all brothers. We’re all a band of brothers.” 

One of those killed in action was Michael Duffy, with whom Plager graduated from high school in Spokane. 

“I think of him a lot,” said Plager, 61. 

Gallihugh also found the reading emotional. 

“It brings tears to my eyes,” he said. 

Gallihugh, who had served in the Marines for 10 years when the platoon graduated, said he had never seen a platoon made up entirely of residents from one state before. 

Typically, recruits trained with others from around the country. 

The all-Washington platoon was not an accident. 

Gallihugh, 73, said the Marines, wary of relying on draftees, wanted to encourage recruits. 

Signing up with others from your home state was seen as a way to accomplish that. 

But it also made them better enlistees. 

Eighty of the 85 applicants graduated, and Gallihugh attributed the high graduation rate to the quick bond they were able to form as fellow Washingtonians. 

Platoon member Walt Scott, 62, agreed. 

“It’s hard for 80 people to come together without some sort of commonality,” he said. 

“We all tied together so much better.” 

And though not all of them fought together in Vietnam, they still share a sense of brotherhood from graduating from boot camp together. 

“It’s an honor to know these guys,” said Chuck Looney, 62, who called the event a celebration. 

“You don’t get much closer.” 

The reunion, the platoon’s fifth, was held on Looney’s property in Carlsborg and organized by platoon member Guy Iredale of Port Angeles. 

Platoon member Doug Simpson, who is writing a novel based on Platoon 3041, said reunions are also a way for them to heal some of the emotional wounds from the war. 

“When we came home . . . we were really looked down on,” he said. 

“We all walk away feeling better.” 

Iredale, 62, said he joined the Marines to challenge himself and because he thought the war was just. 

While his views of the conflict changed over time, the brotherhood he shares with the other platoon members has never faded. 

“It’s a strong bond,” Iredale said. 

“And it’s getting stronger every year.” 

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