By Michael Brewer
Special to the Alpine Mountaineer
What a pleasure it was to have the opportunity to interview Daryl Carroll, a man who first moved to the mountain in 1942.
Daryl Carroll was born in Flint, Mich., on March 12, 1940. He has scant memories of Michigan as his father, Joseph Carroll, moved the family to Lake Arrowhead in 1942 and commuted to work as the chief accountant at Norton Air Force Base. His mother, Margaret, was a homemaker. The family home is still standing.
Daryl attended the elementary school that is now a Forest Service office. He traveled down the mountain to attend San Bernardino High School.
“I was not the most well-behaved teenager,” Daryl shared, “and unfortunately fell in with the wrong crowd, who called themselves the Little Lords. I started ditching school and trouble followed.”
When asked how much trouble, Daryl replied, “Well, I am one those wayward youth you heard about in Marine Corps history. The judge told me and my Mom that I had a choice of conviction or joining the Marine Corps.”
After remembering his birth date I asked, “Wait, you were 16 years old; how could you join the Marines?”
“Well,” Daryl responded, “my mom doctored up a birth certificate, and I shortly thereafter joined the Marine Corps, attending boot camp in San Diego. Following infantry training at Camp Pendleton, I shipped out to Vietnam to serve as an observer/advisor.”
When asked if he saw combat in those early days of war, Daryl said, “We did what we had to do.
“We were not allowed to engage at all, so most of our time was spent training the local forces to secure and protect their own areas.
“Following about a year in country,” he added, “my mother became seriously ill and I was granted a medical leave and an honorable discharge. I traveled to Chicago to care for her until she passed away.”
At that point, questioning his future, Daryl decided to join the Army. Because he had already completed the Marine Corps boot camp, the Army did not ask him to do it again.
“The Army trained me to teach rifle, bayonet and hand-to-hand combat, and I was sent to Germany to train young soldier’s personal driver,” Daryl said.
“After service in both the Marine Corps and Army, I became pretty adventurous, owning a horse stable and Rocky C Ranch in Illinois. I then became a deputy sheriff in Mundelein, Ill.”
When Daryl left that job, he headed back to California, where he bought Kelly’s Bar at Foothill and Pepper in Rialto.
Thirty years ago, Daryl returned to the mountain, where he met his wife, Patty. She was working as a checker at Goodwin & Sons Market. The couple was married in 2005.
“I am one happy man,” Daryl said.
Many mountain residents will recall seeing Daryl as the security officer at Goodwin’s. He is an active member with the Marine Corps League and the American Legion.
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