District Governor International President
Larry Boyd Dong Kurn Lee
Brentwood, Tennessee Seoul, Korea
Rotary 2007-08
Make Dreams Real
February 6, 2009
Today again, we hear from one of our own, as long time Rotarian Dr. Paul Marsidi shares with us some of his experiences while exercising one of his favorite hobbies, scuba diving, around Komodo Island.
He especially enjoys diving in the pacific ocean, with his favorite place being the "coral triangle" due to the prolific marine life and number of species of coral in that area. He went diving around Komodo Island in August 2008 and became one of the few people in Union City who has seen the Komodo dragons in the wild, which he will share with us, since he is also a prolific underwater photographer.
Dr. Marsidi was born in Jakarta, Indonesia and left when he was 17 years old. He went to college and medical school in Belgium where he lived for 8 years before pursuing further training in urology in Ohio and finally settled down in Union City in 1981.
Like some of our great athletes, Bret Farve, Curt Warner, and the like, and also much to the delight of some of us who make those little calcium deposits in our kidneys, which are extremely painful, Dr. Marsidi has announced that he is coming out of retirement. He will return to a limited practice of urology in April, practicing two days a week, and will be based here in Union City at the Baptist Hospital.
Next week, there is a special meeting planned at which time there will be an open forum to discuss the Rotary Scholarship Program, before the entire Rotary membership. You are encouraged to attend this meeting, and offer any suggestions you may have which may help the scholarship committee advance this program even further to extend the education of the youth in our area.
On hand at this meeting we will have the privilege of hearing from one of UTM’s Professors, Dr. E. Jerald Ogg, Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts.
The mission of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts’ is to provide high quality academic and professional programs consistent with the University’s commitment to excellence in undergraduate education, developing independent and creative thinking that enriches the lives of its graduates and enables them to become responsible, skilled and participating members of their communities.
Dr. Ogg will offer a program that will inform us of the benefits of such programs as the "Rotary Scholarship Program", and the effects it has on the recipients of such scholarships, and also how it promotes the same type of enrichments as the mission of the Arts listed above.
Last week,
the Hampton Center held a very captive audience, when Rotarians were fully engulfed in every word our speaker uttered, as John Peters, an American Hero and Vietnam War Veteran told of some of the most hair-raising experiences that any team of soldiers could have experienced during that war.
Mr. Peters was a team-leader for one of the most decorated units to come out of that war, known as the "Studies and Observations Group", a group who was sent to the front lines and beyond on many occasions, to send back intelligence information, keeping our troops and commanders up-to-date on the many trails and sightings of the Viet Cong.
He said all of their missions were classified "Top Secret" and that when his team went on a mission, they had no identification with them, they also carried weapons that were of Russian or French origin, so as no-one could trace them back to the United States. All of their orders for missions came directly from their Commander In Chief, or from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and if caught none of the above knew anything about the mission nor anything about the team. The missions were so classified that only four General Officers in all of Vietnam knew what they were doing.
The missions were mainly in Laous, Cambodia and North Vietnam and the de-militarized zone which existed between North and South Vietnam. "The principal mission the team had was one of observation", he said they varied and would be inserted behind enemy lines, and small teams of 6-8 men would observe various trails and paths which the V.C. would use to transfer such things as weapons, food, and various other materials of war. The principal mission was to monitor the Ho Chi Mien Trail, which was a major supply route to the insurgents which were operating in the Southern part of Vietnam.
He said it was always denied by the Russians and Chinese, that they were providing any kind of support to North Vietnam, but in fact they were providing all kind of support and also used the French language to communicate with the V.C.
The most dangerous missions they ran were the "Bright Light" missions he said, which was when the team was supported by an air crew of some sort, therefore the enemy knew they were coming. He also said that the V.C. in 1968, deployed something like 55,000 troops doing nothing but trying to locate the "SOG" Team.
Coming Attraction
Feb. 13 - Rotary Scholarship up-dates UTM Professor Dr. Gerald Ogg
Feb. 20 - Dr. Stan Dungan - UTM Earthquakes in the New Madrid Seismic zone
