Rodney "Hog" Svetich was the longest serving " in country" member of Kilo, 3/26 Marines ..
maybe of all 3/26 Marines. He served at Khe Sahn and just continued to extend his tour until the 26th Marines were sent home in about March or April of 1970. His total tour of duty was 2 and 1/2 years. He was promoted to Sergeant while in Vietnam. I never talked to anyone that did not consider "Hog" to be a good friend and a "nice guy". My last recollections of talking to Hog in Nam was that he was looking forward to becoming a drill instructor upon his return to the states. Somehow, the combat Marine could not quite make the transition to stateside Marine , as he told me later, that he could not quite meet the "polished boots" requirement of the Commanding Officer at boot camp. He was castigated because he just did not quite look "squared away" enough. He told me that while at Khe Sahn that they did not have the ability to change their clothes and they literally rotted off after 3 months or so. But, no one criticized them while at Khe Sahn for not having shined boots. Upon his return to civilian life Hog worked for the Department of Corrections for Snohomish County in the state of Washington. He worked there for 26 years and rose to the rank of Sergeant. Hog passed on in December 2004 and will be missed by all and fondly remembered by his brothers.
John Oscarson
