Civic Action, A True Story: Marines Fighting a Different War in Vietnam (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781451568752)

Gene Hays lives with his wife in Oxford, Mississippi along with three of his sons and their families. The second oldest, Eric, has served in the U.S. Army in South Korea, Afghanistan and Iraq. Gene retired from Active Duty in the Marine Corps in January 1986. Gene attended basic and advanced formal Navy schools in aviation electronics and later instructed avionics basic and advanced courses at the Naval Air Station Memphis, TN. In 1973 he then returned overseas joining Task Force Delta at the Marine Corps Air Station "Rose Garden" in Nam Phong, Thailand during the tail end of the bombing campaign in Southeast Asia. Returning to the States in 1974, Gene taught fixed and rotary wing avionics courses at the CH-53 "Sea Stallion" trainer in Tustin, CA. In 1978 he was selected to serve at Headquarters, United States Marine Corps, in Washington, D.C., as an Assistant Aviation Monitor managing over 7,000 Enlisted Marines in over 60 different military occupational specialties. Working out of the historic Navy Annex, adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery, Gene did the screening for all Marine Enlisted Instructors throughout the Naval Aviation Maintenance Training Group as well as the initial screening for all newly assigned candidates to the prestigious Marine Helicopter Squadron One, the President's helicopter squadron. Returning to Memphis in 1981, Gene was instrumental in establishing the newly formed Enlisted Aviation Maintenance Trainee Management Unit that managed the follow-on training of all Marine Enlisted Aviation Trainees leaving Memphis. At his retirement in 1986, Gene was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. His personal decorations include the Navy Achievement Medal with Combat "V" and the Combat Action Ribbon, as well as several letters of commendation. After his retirement, Gene worked for Martin Marietta Data Systems (now Lockheed-Martin) for five years, and went on to teach electronics at two different two-year colleges. In 1996, Booz-Allen, Hamilton Inc. selected Gene as a Senior Consultant to the Royal Saudi Naval Forces in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Since returning in 1997 from Saudi Arabia, Gene has worked in his field of electronics and in the banking industry. Gene is a member of the Marine Corps League Detachment Pontotoc, MS, and Vietnam Veterans of America. You can contact him by email: rghays47@gmail.com.