For 74-year-old vet, Marine Corps a way of life

[thedrifter]

For 74-year-old vet, Marine Corps a way of life

By ALVIN BENN
November 11, 2003



Whoever coined the term "Once a Marine, always a Marine" must have had Billy Ray Sanders in mind.

At the age of 74, Sanders has been connected to the Marine Corps for about 55 years, including 22 years of active duty. The three decades since his second discharge have involved volunteer work for his beloved Corps.

He even married a Marine.

Billy Ray met Blanche not long after she finished boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., and they've been singing about the "Halls of Montezuma" for 45 years.

Five years ago, he organized a Marine Corps birthday bash at the nearby Faunsdale Bar and Grill. That's where he and Blanche invited more than 50 active, retired and former Marines to join them Monday night to celebrate the Corps' founding 228 years ago at a saloon in Philadelphia.

They didn't prepare a fancy ball or anything like that. The Faunsdale bar is a throwback to Tun Tavern, where the first Marines were recruited - no doubt enticed by free beer and a sales pitch they couldn't refuse since independence from England was around the corner.

Sanders' love of all things Marines is well-known in Alabama's Black Belt. He's been a take-charge guy in civilian life just as he was in the Corps - dating back to his tour of duty as a "China Marine" following World War II.

He did a lot of things during those early years in the Corps - driving trucks, fixing Jeeps and even guiding landing craft ashore when needed. Later, he went into supply work before being discharged in 1950.

Returning home to Perry County, he went to Marion Military Institute on the GI Bill and then opened a store in neighboring Uniontown. That effort flopped and he joined the Marine Corps Reserves in Montgomery. In 1956, he re-enlisted and got his old sergeant's rank back.

Sanders served as a football coach in the Marine Corps and enrolled in a language school where he learned Russian with a decidedly Southern accent.

"One of my instructors told me I spoke good Russian and said I'd do pretty well if I ever was sent to Georgia," Billy Ray said. "I let him know I grew up right next to Georgia. I didn't know much about those Soviet states back then."

He learned about more than geography at several colleges while in and out of the Marine Corps, picking up bachelor's and master's degrees. He got his bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland and his master's degree in education from Auburn University.

Before leaving the Corps in 1975, Sanders spent a year in Vietnam with a communications unit. He doesn't say much about it, but was proud to have gone back into another hot zone.

"I was no hero, but I had some close calls," said Sanders, who believes the cancer he's been treated for during the past few years resulted from exposure to Agent Orange defoliation chemicals used in Vietnam.

He spent his second career as a schoolteacher in Perry County and, when he had nothing else to do, became a blueberry farmer. His berries were so popular that customers drove to his property from as far away as Mobile. Sanders' cancer treatment put an end to his farming operation.

Blanche may not have been a "China Marine" or served in Vietnam, but she's every bit as proud to have been in the Corps as her husband. She does admit he didn't win her over the first time they met.

"I was not impressed," she said. "We had words and I cussed him out even if he was a sergeant."

Billy Ray Sanders, who was discharged as a master sergeant, said as soon as they exchanged their wedding vows in 1958, "I found out who was in command."

The Sanderses, who have two children and four grandchildren, fill their house with Marine Corps memorabilia.

You can't miss Sanders at military gatherings. He always wears his bright red blazer with a Marine Corps League patch over the breast pocket.

"I think my heart is really shaped like a globe and anchor," he tells friends.

Information from: Montgomery Advertiser

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/p...25&cachetime=5


Sempers,

Roger