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Old cowboy/Marine returns to site of only rodeo win

6 Jun 2002 | Steve Mullins Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Although he's spent nearly all his life surrounded by horses, bulls and dairy cattle, retired Cpl. Jake Dearing's rodeo career was about as short and sweet as any could be.On one fateful weekend back in 1952, the Fort Worth, Texas, native used a borrowed horse, saddle and rope and won the Camp Pendleton Rodeo. It turned out to be the only rodeo he would ever enter. Two months after his triumph, Dearing, 22 at the time, was transferred to the 1st Marine Division in Korea and assigned as a machine gunner to F Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines.Six months to the day after landing in Korea, Dearing was injured by an enemy mortar round that killed four men and wounded 12 more. After being evacuated, Dearing, who says shrapnel left 27 holes in his body, was medically retired and spent the next seven months recovering from his wounds in a Corpus Christi, Texas, hospital. He was never again able to ride horses competitively. "My rodeo career started and ended right there at Camp Pendleton," Dearing said. "I have no regrets, but I often wonder if I might have been a world champion, like a Ty (Murray)."At this year's Camp Pendleton Rodeo, held June 1-2 at the Col. A.C. "Ace" Bowen Rodeo Grounds, Dearing was on hand to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his victory. Joining him were three honored guests: retired Capt. J.A. Roper and retired sergeants major Joseph W. Dailey and Archie Robinson. All of the men served together in Korea."The thrill of winning that rodeo does not compare with the people I met in the Marine Corps," Dearing said. "I've always considered it a privilege to serve in the Corps."Dearing, 72, still vividly remembers his rodeo victory. There were four events at the time - bareback, calf roping, bull riding and cow milking. Dearing won the bareback and took second place in the calf rope. He also lost track of his borrowed lasso and had to reimburse its owner $5.Upon his release from the Corpus Christi hospital half a century ago, Dearing returned to a life of ranching. He and his wife Betsy now live on their 1,400-acre ranch in Mingus, Texas, 90 miles east of Abilene. "Ranching is all I know," Dearing said. "If it ain't got hair or hooves, I don't know nothing about it. Our ranch is not a real big one, but it's a fair size. "I've got a lake on it that has one of the best bass holes in the country."

Old cowboy/Marine returns to site of only rodeo win

6 Jun 2002 | Steve Mullins Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Although he's spent nearly all his life surrounded by horses, bulls and dairy cattle, retired Cpl. Jake Dearing's rodeo career was about as short and sweet as any could be.On one fateful weekend back in 1952, the Fort Worth, Texas, native used a borrowed horse, saddle and rope and won the Camp Pendleton Rodeo. It turned out to be the only rodeo he would ever enter. Two months after his triumph, Dearing, 22 at the time, was transferred to the 1st Marine Division in Korea and assigned as a machine gunner to F Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines.Six months to the day after landing in Korea, Dearing was injured by an enemy mortar round that killed four men and wounded 12 more. After being evacuated, Dearing, who says shrapnel left 27 holes in his body, was medically retired and spent the next seven months recovering from his wounds in a Corpus Christi, Texas, hospital. He was never again able to ride horses competitively. "My rodeo career started and ended right there at Camp Pendleton," Dearing said. "I have no regrets, but I often wonder if I might have been a world champion, like a Ty (Murray)."At this year's Camp Pendleton Rodeo, held June 1-2 at the Col. A.C. "Ace" Bowen Rodeo Grounds, Dearing was on hand to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his victory. Joining him were three honored guests: retired Capt. J.A. Roper and retired sergeants major Joseph W. Dailey and Archie Robinson. All of the men served together in Korea."The thrill of winning that rodeo does not compare with the people I met in the Marine Corps," Dearing said. "I've always considered it a privilege to serve in the Corps."Dearing, 72, still vividly remembers his rodeo victory. There were four events at the time - bareback, calf roping, bull riding and cow milking. Dearing won the bareback and took second place in the calf rope. He also lost track of his borrowed lasso and had to reimburse its owner $5.Upon his release from the Corpus Christi hospital half a century ago, Dearing returned to a life of ranching. He and his wife Betsy now live on their 1,400-acre ranch in Mingus, Texas, 90 miles east of Abilene. "Ranching is all I know," Dearing said. "If it ain't got hair or hooves, I don't know nothing about it. Our ranch is not a real big one, but it's a fair size. "I've got a lake on it that has one of the best bass holes in the country."