Hawaii Marine Follows Father's Footsteps
by U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Luke Kuennen September
6,
2020
U.S. Marines with Detachment 4th Force Reconnaissance Company
staged themselves outside the unit’s paraloft aboard Marine Corps
Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, August 14, 2020; they had just received
word that the helicopters that would carry them on a special
insertion/extraction exercise were 15 minutes out.
A lance corporal sheepishly approached the unit platoon sergeant,
Staff Sgt. Michael Wong. The young Marine rendered the proper
greeting of the day, came to a rigid parade rest, and dutifully
presented an issue all too familiar to platoon sergeants across the
Marine Corps: he had forgotten some gear at home.
Staff Sgt. Wong pursed his lips and shook his head. “At our
house, or at the barracks?”
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Aiden
Wong, reconnaissance rover, 4th Force Reconnaissance
Company, and his dad Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Michael Wong, platoon sergeant, 4th Force Reconnaissance Company,
enjoy a father and son moment at Kaneohe Bay Range, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, August 17, 2020. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Luke Kuennen)
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Michael Wong exhibits all of the signature traits of a native
Hawaiian; his face, deeply tanned, bears the lines hewn by countless
grins and years of exposure to the equatorial sun. He pronounces
“Hawai’i” with the trademark lilt between vowels, but above all, he
exudes the friendly pride that is the legacy of the islanders’
culture.
“When I first enlisted, I was looking to travel the
world and see exotic places,” Wong said, chuckling. “They sent me
back to Kaneohe--I grew up across the street in Kailua.”
Enlisted as a Reconnaissance Marine, it was inevitable that
Wong’s wish to travel in the Marine Corps would be fulfilled. In his
career, he had the opportunity to tour the Pacific, Japan, Africa,
and Central America. Eventually, however, Wong sought to return to
Oahu to start a family, he said. “I got out just prior to getting
married,” Wong said. “I know that a lot of people in the military
are able to do their job when they have little children, but I just
knew that wasn’t me.”
Michael’s son, Lance Cpl. Aiden Wong,
is a near spitting image of his father; he inherited his charismatic
smile, bronze skin, and wind-blown, jet black hair—only it’s a
little longer, and not yet tinged with streaks of silver. “Growing
up, I was always around the Marine Corps,” Aiden said. “When I was
11 and my dad got back in, I’d always be at the detachment with him.
”Michael laughed recalling his decision to re-enter service
in the Marine Corps. “I never thought I would come back in, but with
age comes memory loss, and you forget about all of the bad stuff,”
he said. “I thought to myself, ‘I still have a little bit left in
me,’ and I wanted to pass on a little of the knowledge I have to the
younger generation.”
Michael’s influence on his son extended
beyond being a Marine alone ... Aiden also inherited his father’s
desire to be a Reconnaissance Marine. “I never really thought about
actually joining until senior year of high school,” Aiden said. “A
lot of people follow the footsteps of their fathers, and I feel like
I’m taking it to the next level. I’m not only following his
footsteps, but I’m following his orders at the detachment.”
Along the way, Aiden has run into a bit of bad luck, he said. “I
went to basic reconnaissance primer course in 2019, but I was
medically dropped for double stress fractures in both my tibia and
my knee,” Aiden said. “As of now, I’m just training to go back.”
Until he recovers fully from his injury and finishes the extremely
demanding Basic Reconnaissance Course, Aiden won’t be awarded the
military occupational specialty of Reconnaissance Marine.
In
the meantime, serving as a reconnaissance rover under his father has
its own unique challenges, Aiden said. “I live with my platoon
sergeant--I call him ‘staff sergeant dad,’” Aiden said with a laugh.
“It comes with its pros and cons. I get information a lot quicker
because I can just go up to his room and ask him what’s happening,
but he’s always on my back, making sure I’m staying in shape,
training, everything like that.”
Michael says it can get
confusing around the detachment with his son around. “I think the
hardest part is when somebody yells out ‘Wong,’ we don’t know who
they’re calling,” Michael said, laughing again. “But it works. We
still joke around together. He’s a good kid, and a good Marine.”
Aiden says despite their ability to still have fun, he hasn’t
forgotten his goals. “There’s a huge amount of pressure. All of my
dad’s friends that he’s known since the 80’s who are Recon Marines
message me all of the time, they ask me how my training is going,
they’re ready and expect me to finish,” Aiden said, growing serious.
“At the same time, it’s a good thing. My dad expects me to finish,
and I expect myself to finish. It’s just something I want to do to
make him proud.”
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