HOLD FAST May 11th: California, Day 6

Howard Mason, Able Company, 1/7

We finished filming around 1800 today and headed over to Laguna Beach for some Thai food in Brian's old neighborhood. He lived there for a time when he was still stationed in California. We managed to find a reasonably priced hotel for the night. Adam synced up all of the audio and video that we shot today and hit the rack. Brian is doing some light editing right now and I have been catching up on e-mails. The press has done a great job of covering our project and it's starting to feel like I need to hire an intern to help me keep up with all of the e-mails and phone calls. I can't complain though-- being busy is good.

Larry Kerzman (B-1-11), Brian, and Doug Stout (7th Marines)

Things went well today. John Whiteriver, the president of American Legion Post 132 in Orange, is our host for the next few days. John is a Marine who fought at Inchon in Korea. We've really lucked out on this trip so far-- John is one of a number of Marines that we have met that have made our project possible through their selflessness. I probably shouldn't be surprised-- Marines always take care of Marines-- but I am always humbled by their willingness to help us out when we are in a jam.

Ahn, Brian, Howard, and Anton

Ahn was back on the set, and, as always, he did a great job on the cameras. We had a lot of challenges with background noise today, but Adam made sure that all of our audio came out sounding damned near perfect. We really are lucky to have a such a crew of consumate professionals.

Brian on set

Good interviews today, too. Jack Stites, the president of the Colonel William Barber chapter, met with us. He has done a lot to connect us with the members of his chapter. We have another full day of interviews with these gentlemen tomorrow, then we will continue our march north to Pasadena.

S/F
Anton