John Clendenin stood shoreside with his grandson, Kaleb, watching the USS Iwo Jima glisten in the harbor. Like many Virgin Islanders drawn to the increased presence of military ships visiting the territory, 12-year-old Kaleb Clendenin Scott wanted to go aboard.
His grandfather had been on many such vessels. Retired Lt. Col. Clendenin devoted 38 years to the U.S. Marine Corps. A sixth-generation Crucian from a very long line of military servicemen, the older Clendenin could reasonably assume young Kaleb may be inside military ships before too long.
But it wouldn’t be today, he told the boy. The Navy was not offering tours.
Nearby, marines and sailors were lined up “10-deep” waiting for taxis on the half-flooded street, Clendenin said.
“You know what? Just jump in the car,” Clendenin told a group. He and his grandson drove them to the Buccaneer Hotel, where they introduced themselves to Iwo Jima Capt. Richard Haley. The interaction led to Clendenin and his wife, Bonnie, hosting an island tour.
“The captain was the same age as the younger of my kids and just older than my dog. So we started adopting them. Bonnie and I took them around the island,” Clendenin said. Beaches, historical sites — including Danish and American military settings — the rainforest, shopping, local food, they packed in a full day. “It was just tremendous.”
When Haley invited the couple aboard the ship the next day, which happened to be the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday, the battle-hardened Clendenin couldn’t bring himself to ask a favor of the commanding officer. It fell to his wife to ask if their grandson could join.
More than a ship tour, he wound up on the bridge, at the helm of the warship.
“I got to sit in the captain’s chair! I also got to sit in the chair that he sits on to think about his life, which is in the open air outside of the bridge,” Clendenin Scott wrote in a homeschool report about the day. It included interactions with Navy and Marine officers like Capt. Kathryn Wijnaldum. “Later, before we left Captain Kathryn’s office, I took a lollipop out of her bowl… well, the better word would be stole a lollipop, but she didn’t really mind.”
They snapped photos on the flight deck, and he attempted to squeeze his tall, bushy hair into Marine Expeditionary Unit Commander Col. Tom Trimble’s flight helmet.
A dozen or so Marines “ambushed” the visitors after the bridge tour to hear Clendenin’s remarks on the Marine Corps birthday, military history, and the history of the Virgin Islands, he said. The meeting ended in typical Marine fashion. Everyone dropped to the floor for 10 pushups — plus one more for the Corps.
“Even Capt. Haley did push-ups with the Marines,” he wrote. “But I didn’t do them.”
He may have a second chance. Clendenin Scott is now interested in joining the Marines.
Clendenin credits his grandson’s wonder with making the day happen.
“So it was good — and all from a little kid looking at the Navy ship, and said, one day I’m gonna go on a ship and, you know, so I said, OK. Well, I’m your grandfather. Let’s see if we can make that happen,” he said.
