Dawn Patrol:

When I think about surfing, two things that don’t come to mind are football players and U.S. Marines. So when my friend Laird Hayes introduced me to Mike Giddings, football player, coach, and Marine, and told me he had some great surfing stories I was a bit incredulous. But Laird wasn’t kidding.

You could write a book about Mike’s football accomplishments. A player at Cal, defensive coordinator with John McKay at USC, an NFL coach and innovator of pro scouting — even coaching Newport Harbor High football until his scouting business became too demanding. But it’s one of Mike’s surfing stories I’d like to share.

It starts in Balboa where Mike grew up. He used to bodysurf Corona del Mar in the days before the east jetty was extended and ruined the surf. In the early 50s he was playing football at Cal. Vicki Flaxman, his friend from UCLA, and one of the few women surfers at the time, convinced him to try board surfing.

“We glued up a balsa wood blank and took it to Manhattan Beach where Dale Velzy shaped it under the pier,” he said. “That was my first board.”

After college Mike joined the Marines and became a Recon Officer stationed at Camp Pendleton, home to the “Trestles” breaks, some of the best waves in the world. But the area was closed to the public and surfers had to sneak in at the risk of having their boards confiscated and being cited for trespassing.

“If you were a Marine MP you could see your face in the shine of your boots,” Mike said. “So those guys hated going down in the dirt and sand to chase the surfers. But it was considered a liability issue and if too many people showed up they had to try to get them out of there.”

This led to a lot of unintended animosity between surfers and Marines. All the while Mike got to surf the perfect waves legally, and most of the time by himself. But he did get to know many of the surfers of that era.

“I knew Hobie Alter, Gordy Clark, and Mickey Munoz,” Mike said. “And there was a kid we called ‘Phil from Guayule’. He was better known later as Phil Edwards.”

One day Mike and some regulars were out surfing when an MP began firing his pistol. When he saw the bullets land in the water behind him Mike paddled in and identified himself as a lieutenant to the stunned sergeant. The incident led Mike to approach the MPs about opening the area to the surfers. Mike had to meet with the Provost Marshall, a colonel, and explain his idea, telling him the area was too rocky for training maneuvers. And, asked to put “Surf at Your Own Risk” signs.

Surprisingly the Provost Marshall agreed and the area was opened. But the open surfing was short lived.

The beach was quickly closed again and it would be almost 20 more years of Marines vs. surfers until the area became part of the State Park system. But for two days in 1957 Trestles was open to surfers, thanks to a young lieutenant.

JOHN BURTON’S surf column appears Fridays. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected]