by Robert C. Robinson

We recognize the military service of four members of our bar. There’s Dick Rockwell, a civil litigator in Tustin; Frank Quinlan, special counsel with Archer Norris in Newport Beach; Steve Hogie, an employment lawyer in Tustin; and Ryan Manning, a civil litigator with Newmeyer & Dillion. Each has a different story, but they all share similar themes: service to country, personal growth, and experience in a military that works to adapt to the changing demands of the day.

Dick Rockwell served as a naval officer during the Vietnam War on two aircraft carriers and on the Battleship New Jersey. Not many people think of battleships when they think of the Vietnam War. “We sat off the shore and fired on targets identified by aerial observers and other sources. One of those big Navy guns could hit a Volkswagen bug at 12 miles away. The most memorable target was an ordnance depot in a mountain, secured by large metal doors. We sent several armor piercing rounds directly through those doors and we could see their ordnance depot blow up from the sea.”

About the time Rockwell was completing his service, Frank Quinlan was attending the University of Wisconsin. The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) had attacked the campus military recruiting offices. The next day, all the recruiters stayed away-except, you guessed it, the Marines. “There was this really squared away first Lieutenant and his Gunnery Sergeant. The SDS had planned to have speeches and a debate in the student union, and they dared the Marine Lieutenant to get up and defend the US involvement in the war. After the Lieutenant listened respectfully, he got up, calmly and objectively told the audience how he had taken an oath to defend his country, gave a very articulate history of the conflict in Vietnam from prior to World War II, and the history of the US involvement in Vietnam. When he was done, the students gave him a standing ovation.” Soon after, Frank signed up for Marine Corps aviation and became a helicopter pilot flying the COBRA gunship.

By the time Frank finished his schooling and training, the Vietnam War was winding down. When he got off active duty, he stayed in the reserves for many years while he obtained his law degree, worked for the FBI, and then established his practice in Orange County. Frank retired from the Reserves as a Brigadier General. He was active in various roles during both Gulf Wars, including strategic planning immediately after the September 11 attacks.

Steve Hogie enlisted in the Army at the age of 18 and found himself like two generations of Hogies before him serving in Germany. “My grandfather fought against the Germans in World War I, and brought back some German helmets with the pointed tops which I still have. My father and I served in Germany about 20 years apart. We drank beer and won the Cold War!” But it seems it was not all fun and games. Steve was in artillery, and there were frequent war game exercises to make sure the NATO defenses were ready. The Army was in a post-Vietnam malaise. We were underfunded, we could only keep four out of six guns operational, morale was poor, the pay was poor, and the food was awful. . . .  The German soldiers were fed better and they were even given beer in the field! A night out with them was a lot more fun-singing songs and standing on tables!”

Steve’s son Brian was the fourth generation Hogie to serve in the military. Brian joined the Marines in August 2000, and about 2 1/2 years later was among the first to enter Baghdad. Although he was in the initial assault, his unit was the last Marine unit to be rotated home. After seven months, he was sent back for another tour in Iraq, this time in the Anbar region along the Syrian border. “Brian lost some friends and had some other friends who returned with catastrophic injuries. But like a good Hogie, Brian finished his enlistment and got out.” Brian has since finished college and is living with his wife and baby in South Carolina.

Ryan Manning offers yet another example of the many ways Americans serve their country. Ryan joined the Marine Corps Reserves while going through college, and went on active duty after obtaining his law degree from USD. On September 11, 2001, Ryan was in Quantico finishing his officer training at The Basic School. As a Judge Advocate, among the cases he investigated and prosecuted were those involving Marines abusing detainees. Ryan says he found the commands and the military juries (criminal sentences are often handed down by juries in courts martial) were very balanced and fair-minded in the detainee abuse cases.

Ryan also saw some of the problems our combat vets came home with. “One of the problems we started to see was with PTSD sometimes leading to drug use, particularly methamphetamines,” says Ryan. “This sometimes created a bit of a dilemma for me, and for some of the commanding officers. We would have a young corporal with an exemplary record, maybe a Purple Heart, maybe a Navy Achievement Medal with a Combat V, and now he’s admitted to 80 uses of meth.” The commands and the Judge Advocate office had to struggle with enforcing the law and the good order and discipline of military service while recognizing that for some of these Marines, treatment may be the option. He said, “Some of these Marines would tell us that they were getting nightmares and started to take meth to stay awake so they would not have to dream, and then they got hooked. There was a noticeable increase in the number of drug offenses among returning combat units.”

Robert C. “Robby” Robinson, Lt.Col., USMCR (Ret.) practices employment and business litigation. He is a former Editor of the OC Lawyer.