Escondido author releases second book

By:LINDSEY BESECKER - For the North County Times | Wednesday, July 2, 2003 11:38 AM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- Memories of past wars and times spent with friends and family fill the pages of Escondido resident Arthur C. Farrington's latest book, "Pacific Odyssey."

The book was published last month by Sunflower University Press as a follow-up to "The Leatherneck Boys," in which Farrington details his service at Guadalcanal during World War II.

"The rough things usually I pass over," said Farrington, who is 80. "I remember the good things."

"Pacific Odyssey" is based around 12 vignettes and describes Farrington's journeys in Australia, Vietnam, Korea, Haiti and other places as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps during WWII and the Vietnam and Korean wars.

"I'm just immensely proud of him," said Lynn Pines, Farrington's daughter and editor of the book. "He just kept going because he knew that was what he had to do."

Farrington reported to the Marines in November of 1940, and retired as a Chief Warrant Officer-4 in 1970.

"I wanted to stay in," Farrington said. "The guys appreciated me and everything."

Photographs fill some of the pages, showing Farrington in the various places that he has visited, including Oceanside in 1968. Photos of his mother and father, wife and children are also included, as well as newspaper photos, postcards and programs.

"I grew up listening to (the stories)," Pines said. "The most exciting thing to me is that it's written down for my own kids (to read)."

"I just always remember him telling us about when he was on Peleliu," Pines said. "He told it like it was (and) didn't make it all grandiose."

Farrington's living room at his Escondido house contains even more memorabilia from his time as a Marine, each piece with a story behind it. He has three helmets ---- American, Japanese and German. Bullets and mortar shells line his mantel. Farrington even has the remains of the mortar shell that blew out his ear drum.

His daughter Karen, who designed the covers for his two books, painted a portrait of her sister Lynn, which now hangs next to old cartoons of Willie and Joe by legendary World War II cartoonist Bill Mauldin, taken from barracks in England.

As his dog, Killer, ran in circles around his feet, Farrington pulled out his wallet to reveal a Japanese occupation bill, among other souvenirs that he keeps in plastic coverings. Plaques and signed pictures sit in the corners of the room.

"Marines are souvenir hunters," Farrington explained.

Farrington said he wrote his books mainly for young people who may be thinking about going into the service. He said that he went to the Marine recruiting office on Monday and told a young recruit that the Marines were "the best 30 years of my life."

Farrington moved to Escondido in 1968 with his wife, Erlinda, and their four children, Rolando, Arthur, Karen and Lynn. The Volkswagen beetle that Farrington bought in Haiti in 1959 still sits in the garage.

Farrington said that when he retired from the military in 1970 he worked as a substitute teacher in San Marcos and Escondido for 18 years. He stopped in 1988, after a knife was pulled on him.

"I just finally had enough," Farrington said. "I said, 'Man, I'm getting enough of this.'"

Now he plays and watches tennis and takes his wife to bingo. Two years ago, he ranked as one of the top local singles players over the age of 75. Now Farrington can only play doubles because of problems with his knee, he said.

"My first love is tennis and the Marine Corps," Farrington said.

Farrington said that "Pacific Odyssey" is his last book.

"I've got nothing to add," Farrington said.

Contact writer Lindsey Besecker at lbesecker@nctimes.com.

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