Jim McComb

A proud U.S. Marine and Vietnam veteran.

By Bob Staranowicz, Correspondent


“The Marines had comradeship and spirit and I wanted to be a part of that,” is the reason Jim McComb gives for his decision to join the U.S. Marine Corps before he graduated from high school.

“High school was not challenging for me and I guess I was looking for a challenge. The Marines certainly provided that. I was looking for the opportunity to be part of a greater effort – a team,” he adds.

McComb was born in the Frankford section of Philadelphia not far from the Bridge and Pratt streets elevated station. He attended Warren G. Harding Junior High and Frankford High School, both within walking distance from his home.

McComb was the first from his family to join the Marines and he looked forward to the challenge and the opportunity to be part of a team.

“I joined the Marines three months before I graduated from Frankford High on the delayed entry program,” McComb recalls. He was originally leaving for basic training in July of 1969 but since several of his classmates had also joined the Marines and were leaving in June, he called his recruiter and had his entry date changed so that he could be in basic training with them.

Before McComb left home for Vietnam, he told his family that his orders would most likely send him to Mainland Japan or Okinawa. “I did not tell them I was going to Vietnam until I was in Staging Battalion just before going overseas,” he recalls.

McComb went to Vietnam as a radio operator and was assigned to the 1st Marine Air Wing. From April 1962, when Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM)-362 flew into the Mekong Delta to set up operations at the Soc Trang airfield in, through April 1975, when helicopters of HMM-164 evacuated the last Americans from the embassy in Saigon, thousands of Marines served as members of the First Marine Aircraft Wing (First MAW) during the Vietnam War.

“There was not a great need for radio operators, so I began driving in convoys,” said McComb. Convoys were used to resupply a remote communications site just west of Khe Sanh. McComb’s route took him through a nine-mile stretch on Route 9 that was known as Ambush Alley, but by 1971 the threats of ambush were minimal.

“We were always greeted with sniper fire that usually just hit our vehicles and sometimes they would hit one of our guys, but it was never fatal as far as I knew,” McComb remembers.

Unlike many Vietnam veterans, when McComb returned to the states, he was met with no adverse greetings.

“One of the officers told us we should expect a hostile reception at the airport. He suggested we change from our uniforms into civilian clothes. I was proud to be wearing my uniform so I did not change. I encountered no problems at the airport,” he says

“But, when I got to my home it was as if I arrived at a new place. Things were not as I remembered them. None of my old friends were around. I became anxious to get to my next duty station and to a life I knew.”

McComb set many goals for his return to civilian life. There were four major goals agreed upon by him and his buddies, who sadly, did not return. One was to grow a beard; he grew one and still has it. Another goal was to get an education; McComb completed his Doctorate in Business Administration at the age of 49 from Kennedy-Western University and had accomplished what he considered to be the complete educational experience. The third goal was to get married and raise a family. McComb has been married for 31 years to Sophie, whom he says has been the greatest influence on his life. They have one daughter, Erin, who was recently married.

The last goal has been the most difficult to measure or complete. “I now have to focus on the last goal – helping others. I am trying to accomplish this now,” McComb reflects.

Those four goals are very important to McComb for several reasons; the most important is that he and his buddies spent many hours talking about them. Jim returned from Vietnam but they did not. “I think about those goals often. Every time I help someone in some way, it is in honor of those guys.”

McComb is currently a member of American Legion Post 210, the Central Bucks Detachment of the Marine Corps League, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 210 and the Doylestown Post 175 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars where he is a Past Commander. His is also the District 8 Patriots Pen Chairman, a VFW-sponsored essay writing contest, a member of the Doylestown Lions, and a volunteer with the Toys for Tots program.

McComb believes that “on graduation day, when we were finally called Marines, that was the proudest day of my life and remains so to this day. From that day forward, we were part of a brotherhood that bonds all Marines to mutual helpfulness. When we got out of the Marines that spirit of helpfulness was to extend to all – Marines and non-Marines.”