New and events of the Philadelphia Bar Asso.
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tours in Vietnam. Let's talk about your military background and how your experiences as a marine have shaped you. I joined the Marine Corps right after graduating from high school. My best friend and I were acolytes together at the historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas. Since I could remember, he wanted to be a Marine. I did not. He wanted me to join the Marines with him. I did not want to do so. We flipped a coin, I lost. As you know, the Marine boot camp at Parris Island is located in South Carolina. This was the first time I had ever been in the Deep South. We were the only two African-Americans in our training platoon of about 90 recruits. He got hurt and had to spend two weeks in the hospital and joined another training platoon. So when we were separated, it was just me. I had never before had the "N-word" directed at me by someone who was white. This changed. To give you an example, I did not have the best dental care when I was young. In boot camp, I had to have extensive dental work done and the dentist there saved and restored the teeth that were bad. He did not pull a single tooth. Since all Marines are trained for combat, the dentists were all Navy officers. The dentist that worked on my teeth was a Navy lieutenant commander who had to be in his late 50s or early 60s. When I was sitting in the chair, with his instruments in my mouth, as part of casual conversation with the other dentists – we were lined up as if in barber chairs – he would use the "N-word" every other word. He talked about how he loved to work on "N-word" teeth. Being alone, 17, and a buck private, there was not too much I could do about it. However, to this day, I have had dentists tell me that this was the finest work they have ever seen. There is a moral to this story somewhere. However, I got along. I could run further and faster than most of my peers, I could kick a lot of their butts, and I was smarter than they were. They accepted me. The Southern recruits could not believe that I was black because I broke all of the stereotypes that they had been taught all of their lives. My drill instructors were hard on me, but they were hard on everyone. However, they were fair to me; I knew they wanted me to succeed. Once I became a Marine, I was part of the club – case closed. The Marine Corps taught me that most people have biases that can be overcome. They taught me that if you treat people fairly, they will generally reciprocate. After serving overseas for the first time, and becoming a very young sergeant, the older African-American Marines, the "Montford Point" Marines – the segregated boot camp in North Carolina for black Marines during World War II – would take me under their wings and school me. This was a fiercely loyal and decidedly patriotic group of men. Most of them had fought in three wars. Once they found out that I had the "right stuff" they taught me about what being a Marine and what being a "black man" was all about. Service to the other Marines, and service to God, our country and community, was a large part of that. You are known for your honesty and candor. How would you describe your leadership style? How does your military background play a role with how you lead people? I tend to be very open and direct with people. I have found that I generally do not have the time, nor the inclination to do anything else. I believe it does come the philadelphia lawyer Winter 2015 27 Chancellor Albert S. Dandridge III joined the U.S. Marine Corps right after graduating from high school and served in Vietnam. He wanted me to join the Marines with him. I did not want to do so. We flipped a coin, I lost.