Putt! Putt! Putt! Putt!\”

Marine Corps Aviation

By Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Sarah Wolff
Camp Pendleton Public Affairs

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Dec. 28, 2012 – \”Putt! Putt! Putt! Putt!\”

Former Marine Pvt. Frank Baron Jr. stands with Marines assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 39 during a tour of the air station at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Dec. 11, 2012. Baron served as an active duty Marine from 1933 to 1937. Courtesy photo (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution imageavailable.

Imitating the sound of a Curtiss Condor\’s engines failing, Frank Baron Jr. mimics the tumbling motions of the aircraft falling from the sky. His hands rush to his shoulders as if grabbing for parachute straps.

\”I thought, \’This is it,\’ and then all of a sudden, brrrr!\” he said, describing the sound of the engines returning to life as he sinks into the back of the couch, grinning, but sighing with relief.

\”That\’s the most scared I ever was, and I love to fly,\” said Baron, 98, who\’d served as an airplane rigger during a crucial period in the evolution of Marine aviation.

Baron\’s love for the Marine Corps was sparked in Glen Burnie, Md., where he was born April 18, 1914.

\”I liked the Marines, I\’d known them from the time I was just a kid,\” Baron explained. He grew up three blocks from a training area used by a Marine unit.

There was no grass, only leaves from the shade trees, Baron said of the training grounds. He said would often visit and ask the Marines if they wanted anything from the commissary.