During World War II, Combat Underwater Demolition Teams (CUDT), full-fledged naval combat units, were the first to land at great risk on enemy shores, their dangerous mission being to gather topographic beach reconnaissance data and clear beachheads of any landing obstacles with explosives. The purpose of this specialized company was to prescreen and find recruits in order to prepare them for Underwater Demolition/SEAL training. I went to Great Lakes.” He was inducted in Lower Manhattan at Whitehall recruiting station, put on a train at Grand Central Station and rode to Chicago, arriving in 13 feet of snow.Īfter starting with a regular boot camp company, Marcus elected to re-start boot camp with a specialized company, commanded by a “hard nose” Underwater Demolition Team Frogman Chief.
One was in Florida, one in the Great Lakes, one in San Diego. “Back then the Navy had three boot camps. “I wanted to be a scuba diver, like Lloyd Bridges in the television show ‘Sea Hunt.’” Marcus enlisted in the Navy in 1968, right out of high school. He was constantly sailing six, seven, or nine months a year.” Only after his retirement did they start to get to know each other.Īt the height of the Vietnam War, and faced with the prospect of the draft, Marcus decided enlist in the U.S. “Because my dad was a merchant mariner I didn’t know him very well. A marvelous institution to keep boys off the street, involved in worthwhile sports projects, and out of trouble. “I was a typical street kid…but I was fortunate to join the Boys’ Club of New York. When Marcus was five years old his family moved to the projects on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His father’s maritime experiences influenced Marcus to think about joining the Navy. One of his father’s ships was blown up and he was thrown into the water before being rescued. His father was a sailor in the Merchant Marines, who sailed during World War II in the Atlantic, delivering desperately needed supplies through dangerous, submarine-infested waters to England. Arroyo was born on Augin the South Bronx of New York.
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