When his father and other male relatives, all of whom had been
army men, asked Luke Spiros why he wanted to join the Marine Corps,
he replied, “Because I want to play in the Marine band.”
This is what the Marine recruiter had promised the young
Bostonian when he signed up. But the military is not necessarily
interested in what a recruit wants; rather they’re interested in
how the recruit can best serve the military.
That’s why when after Boot Camp, the Marines informed him that
he had scored very high on the Morse code and Crypto exam –
mastering code requires rhythm just as a musician does – and would
therefore be trained as a Crypto/Radio operator. Spiros felt
betrayed. He’d had visions of playing his Baritone Horn in the
Marine Band in Washington D.C., not carrying a radio on his back
with the Third Marine Brigade in Hawaii. This was followed by four
month tours in places like Guam, The DMZ in Korea, Hong Kong,
Vietnam and Japan.
“In Japan, I lived in a hotel, and wore a suit and tie, but in
the other places we lived in a gigantic van.”
Spiros said his job was mainly – warfare on the air – listening
to communications of other countries and sometimes jamming those
communications.
There was a strong element of danger in what Spiros did.
“Sooner or later you always get discovered. When rounds start
hitting your van and a helicopter picks the entire van up and
evacuates you, you know something is going on.”
Spiros recounts one incident in the DMZ in Korea.
“We noticed women in dresses outside the van picking daisies.
When we told the South Korea guards, they went out and mowed them
down. The women were North Koreans with explosives attached to
them. Their mission had been to blow up our van.”
After returning to Hawaii, it didn’t take Spiros long to tire of
the island paradise.
“My Mom wrote a letter declaring herself a hardship case and
requested that I be transferred closer to home.” The only duty
station available was the Portsmouth Naval Prison – equivalent to
Leavenworth – where he became a cell block sentry.
It was at Portsmouth that Spiros would go into the latrine at
night and play his Baritone horn. It was also the time when he met
a Marine Major who was a prisoner. They became friends and this
friendship would benefit Spiros later on.
It was at this point that Spiros wrote a letter to the Marine
Band Director in D.C. asking to be considered for a position in the
Marine Band.
“A week later the Commandant of the Marine Corps wrote to ask
why if I wanted a hardship transfer to Boston, why I wanted to go
to D.C.”
A week later Spiros found himself on the way back to North
Carolina, and soon after arriving, short timer Spiros was informed
that he was being extended and would be going to Viet Nam. When he
went to personnel to begin processing, he found himself looking
into the eyes of the Major who’d been a prisoner in Portsmouth. The
Major pulled strings and soon Spiros was auditioning in front of a
hard as nails band director, who wanted him to flunk, but Spiros
was too good. He would spend his final five months in the Corps
playing his Baritone horn all up and down the east coast.
It would not be until he was a civilian, that an embittered
Spiros got a call from the director of the Marine Band in
Washington, D.C., offering him a position in the greatest of all
military bands.
Spiros reentered the Corps and would be a member of the Marine
Band until 1987. He describes the experience as the most demanding,
yet exhilarating time of his life.
“It will burn you out because of the murderous schedule but when
playing at a top venue the burnout leaves.”
Luke Spiros is still playing his Baritone horn in various
places, although he played a trombone while performing taps this
past Memorial Day. He’s no longer bitter at the Marine Corps and
sees his entire time as a positive experience.
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