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Photo by Huffman

MARINE CORPS ENGINEER ASSOCIATIONHISTORY - 2015

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

BALDASSARI’S MARINE CORPS HISTORY BY BOB BALDASSARI

REMINISCENCE BY GEORGE CARLSON

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE MCEA TREASURER BY GEORGE CARLSON

WELCOME HOME, LT. BONNYMAN: A PATRIOT MODEL OF SERVICE AND SACRIFICE BY MARK ALEXANDER

PROFILE IN DEDICATION: THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COL. KEN FRANTZ, USMC (RET)

HENRY “HANK” GEROW: A WW2 COMBAT ENGINEER ON IWO JIMA

TRUE TO THE CORPS: CAPTAIN JOEL F. LINDSEY, USMC (RET.) AND HIS BRIDE OF 50 YEARS, EVA M. LINDSAY BY CYDNEE GENTRY

BUCKSKIN: THE MAKING OF A FIREBASE BY SGT. DAVE ALLEN LIEUTENANT COLONEL LAUREN S EDWARDS, USMC - MAKING HISTORY: A MARINE IS FIRST FEMALE TO COMMAND AN ENGINEER SUPPORT BATTALION

PLUCK, POLITICS & SHORE PARTY BY GEORGE F. ALLEN, JR.

3 5 10 12 15 18 20 23 25 27

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BALDASSARI MARINE CORPS HISTORY

By Bob Baldassari

George John Baldassari was born in 1923 in Seneca Falls, New York (close to Rochester). He was the third of three sons. At the outbreak of World War II his oldest brother joined the Navy. His other brother joined the Army. In 1942 George joined the Marine Corps and was stationed at Parris Island, then Quantico before being transferred to Norfolk, Virginia. He was an engineer with the 6th Marine Division. Halfway across the country, Celesta Doreen Combs was born in 1923 near Springfield, Illinois. After high school she joined the Marine Corps. She was a motor transport Marine and was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia.

Photo courtesy of Bob Baldassari George and Celesta met in Norfolk and began dating. In May 1944 George was transferred to Camp Pendleton, California. They had a long-distance relationship until she flew to California in September 1944 where they were married. Shortly after their marriage George was sent to the Philippines. Celesta then returned to Norfolk. Ultimately, Celesta was honorably discharged and moved to California. Their son was born the following year. They named him John. George Senior returned to the United States in February 1946. Upon his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps he and Celesta moved to Springfield, Illinois. Another son, Robert, was born in February 1949. In August 1949 the family moved to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. While there the Baldassari family had another son and three daughters. John, the eldest of six children was active in the Boy Scouts, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. He also received the Order of the Arrow. John enjoyed playing Little League baseball as a catcher, along with playing the accordion. Graduating from high school in 1963 he joined the Marine Corps in September of that year. In boot camp he could run faster than anyone else earning the nickname Flash. In November 1965 he went to Vietnam with a 1371 MOS, Combat Engineer with B Company, 3rd Engineer Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. He was wounded by shrapnel from a mortar on July 23, 1966 during Operation Hastings. Unfortunately, he lost part of his brain and sustained additional injuries in his chest and back. Due to this incident he lost most of the hearing in his left ear, requiring that a plastic plate be placed in his head and spending about nine more months in the Philadelphia Naval Hospital. He was discharged in April 1967 with a permanent disability.

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The middle daughter, Carol, graduated from high school in 1978 and then joined the Marine Corps in May 1969. Her MOS was 1521 (Duplicating Man). She was stationed with H&S Battalion and later transferred to the 8th Engineers at Camp Lejeune. She was honorably discharged in April 1982. In Chambersburg, Pennsylvania there are numerous veterans’ clubs. Many members of the Baldassari family are members of the Marine Corps League, American Legion, VFW, AMVETS and Veterans of the Vietnam War. George was the Commandant of the Marine Corps League and Celesta was the president of the Marine Corps League Auxiliary for many years. Sgt. G. John Baldassari Jr. worked as a carpenter at Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. In 1990 he volunteered to go to Iraq during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. As a carpenter, he made packing crates for equipment being shipped back to the United States. He was there from November 1990 to May 1991. John passed away in August 2009. Family members would like to learn more about his time in the Marine Corps, more specifically about his time in Vietnam. If you have any information please contact his brother Bob at: Bob Baldassari 2601 Oakton Glenn Drive Vienna, VA 22181 Email at: BobBaldassri@gmail.com Cell phone: 703-628-0040

Photo courtesy of Bob Baldassari Photo courtesy of Bob Baldassari

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Photo by C.Gentry

REMINISCENCE

By George Carlson

How I Became a Marine? Unlike many Marines, the Corps was not my first goal. My family history was one of citizen soldiers. Both of my grandfathers served in WW1 – one in France as the 1st Sgt. of a Medical Company, and one as a machine gunner in an infantry unit that ended up quarantined at Camp McClellan in the Spanish flu outbreak. My mother’s older brother had been in the Army Air Corps in photomapping, first for the Al-Can highway, then in South America surveying potential airfield sites, and then in New Guinea, the Philippines, and Okinawa. My dad was my greatest influence. He had been a reserve Supply Corps officer on a destroyer escort in the Atlantic. Initially they escorted convoys to North Africa but ultimately to Italy and (I can only presume, he never really got that specific) the European continent.

His stories were the single largest influence on me as a youngster. Most of his stories centered on the humorous. You don’t, after all, tell a youngster of 4, 5, or even 12 the harsh sides. But beneath it all was an expression of the brotherhood of arms. By the time I hit high school, my plan/goal was to be a citizen soldier (or in this case, a sailor) – a “tin can” naval officer who was “haze grey and underway.” With my family background, service was just something one did – it was not an option.

Late in my sophomore year, I wrote to Stuart Symington who was one of the senators from Missouri about seeking an appointment to the Naval Academy. While his response was very positive, I realized up front that I could not meet the vision requirements. In those days, the Naval Academy required 20/20 uncorrected vision and while I was correctable to 20/20, I was 20/200 without glasses. I should mention that there appeared to be some exceptions. A fellow by the name of Greg Mazur with eyesight like mine was accepted as a plebe my junior year in high school. The “secret” was that he was a pretty darn good field goal kicker – my only athletic talent of note was as a deep-water goalie in water polo! That somehow just didn’t carry the same weight.

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With the door closed to the Naval Academy, I started seeking other options. I looked at NROTC both scholarship and college programs, but again, the eyesight requirement disqualified me. By late in my junior year I was pretty bummed. But my mother, who was best described as a “library rat,” brought home a book for me on the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY. When I read that graduation lead to papers as either a 3rd Mate (deck) or a 3rd Engineer AND a commission as an Ensign, USNR, I said, “Ah-Ha!” You won’t let me in the front door (USNA) or the side door (NROTC), but I’ll sneak in the back door via the USMMA. My letter to the Superintendent evoked an all too familiar response, “We are sorry, but we are bound by the same vision requirements as the Naval Academy and NROTC.” Bummer! By now I was pretty hacked off -- three tries and three negative responses.

By the start of my senior year in high school my father had arranged to be a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii for what would be my first year of college. Hey, a year in Hawaii – I don’t care if nothing transfers! So I applied, was accepted and then had to deal with the (then) requirement that all freshman and sophomore males had to take ROTC. They only had Army and Air Force and neither of those really grabbed me, but when I enrolled, I would have to deal with it.

Each spring, my high school had a “military week” with recruiters for each of the services schedule for one of the days. I had no interest in hearing any of them. I knew what the Navy’s answer was and it was well-known that the Coast Guard had so many applicants that they were requiring 20/20 vision even to enlist just to cut the numbers down. What I didn’t know was that my gym teacher, Lloyd Brewen was a Marine vet. Thursday, when the Marine folks were there, our gym class (like all of his others that day) was marched down to the theater to hear the Marine “pitch.”

It started with a Gunnery Sergeant whose opening sentence began, “If you are not going right on to college …” and my brain just clicked off. He was followed by a Captain who said, “If you are going on to college, we have a commissioning program that has just recently been expanded.” My ears perked up. He explained the PLC program and the more I heard the more I was interested. The Marine Corps is, after all, a naval service. During the question period I was all set to ask about the vision requirements but someone beat me to it. His reply started, “Well, we would prefer 20/20 uncorrected,” and I felt that same disappointment I had three previous times. He continued, “but, we can get waivers as high as 20/200 as long as you are correctable to 20/20 and you are otherwise fully qualified.” My reaction was, “sold to the man in the dark blue tunic, sky blue trousers with the red stripe down the side.”

I gathered all the literature Capt. Lilla had and spent a lot of time in the next three months reviewing it, discussing it with my parents, and pretty well deciding that this was what I wanted to do. In the meantime, I had to make an ROTC decision and chose Army because it only required a 1-hour drill in the fall semester. We arrived in Hawaii about a week before school was to start. By Day 3, I had purchased a Honda 50 motor scooter and on Day 4 I was at the old Honolulu Armory talking to GySgt Al Lee. On 6 November 1963, Capt. R. D. Ross (OSO, San Francisco) swore me in. Of course, I wouldn’t really be a Marine until I had at least completed the PLC Junior Course the next summer, but I was on my way.

Oh, and I didn’t make a hit with Army ROTC. I had to request to be excused from the very first drill period to go to Naval Dispensary, Pearl Harbor to get my physical for the Marine Corps. I don’t think the Professor of Military Science was pleased by that request!

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Junior PLC

All the general information put out about First Increment, Junior PLC for 1964 indicated a 15 June start. When my orders came through, shock of shocks, they said 5 June. My final exams were spread from 3 June to 9 June! As I looked at the orders more carefully, there was an extra space in front of the 5. I thought maybe, just maybe, the typist had hit the 1 key hard enough to index the carriage one space but not hard enough for the head of the key to punch the 1 through the mimeograph stencil (this was before Xerox – orders were “cut” on the blue mimeo stencils and then run off in multiple copies). I called GySgt Lee (my recruiter) and he said he’d deal with Marine Barracks. Two days passed and no response. I am sitting just few days away from either missing a final exam or missing a movement of a ship or aircraft (Art 87, UCMJ). Then I remembered the advice of a GySgt (the father-in-law of my best friend at U of H) – “Try the chain of command first. If that doesn’t work, go straight to the top.”

I got on my Honda 50 motor scooter and rode down to RCA Communications. I sent a radiogram that read something like the following:

From: Pvt. George A. Carlson, 2080830, USMCR

To: Commandant of the Marine Corps (Code: MMRA)

Subj: Order to Junior PLC Course June 1964

1. Unable to comply with orders dated 30 May 1963

2. Reason: Final exams commence 3 June, terminate 9 June.

3. Please advise.

The following afternoon, I received a call from the Message Center at Pearl Harbor. My orders were changed to “report NLT 2400, 15 Jun ’64. I still have copies of both my radiogram and the response.

Junior PLC at that time was at “beyootiful” Camp Upshur. Little did I know at the time that I would be back for my first month of TBS! I may write some anecdotes of that course later if this idea catches on. Perhaps it will encourage others to write more.

Navy Relief Ball at TBS

Early in my time at TBS, I think by month two as I recall, that we were already at Camp Barrett and out of the Quonsets at Camp Upshur, we were asked if we were married. Unlike PLC/OCS we had come to learn that this was an honest question and not meant to put you “on the spot.”

What they sought were escorts for the Navy Relief Ball. We were to escort colonels, generals, and their ladies to their tables at the start of the ball. In case you don’t know, the Navy Relief Ball was, and perhaps still is, the high point of the military social season in Washington, DC. The

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compensation was that you could take your lady and enjoy an evening that cost-wise was out of the reach for most very junior officers.

As the date of the Ball approached the dozen or so of us scanned the training schedule. We were to have an overnight field problem that ran too late the day of the Ball. I’m sure the issue was raised in all five platoons. I’m equally sure the answer was pretty much the same. “Don’t worry, Lieutenant, we’ll cut you loose after noon chow and get you back to Barrett to clean up.” So, along we went. The Ball had to be either a Friday or a Saturday night, but I honestly don’t remember which. Our wives were excited about being able to go and arranged the finest dresses their clothing inventory and our budgets would allow. We all got our dress blues ready for what promised to be an all too infrequent night out with them.

The field problem started after PT and morning chow the day before the Ball. The morning went smoothly, but by mid-afternoon the weather had changed to black clouds and thunderstorms. That was an era of austerity in some supplies – all the “good” stuff was going to RVN. Camo sticks were non-existent. Our substitute was to use the black carbon paper off the “flimsies” that were organic to all military correspondence at the time. Black carbon was rubbed over every inch of exposed skin. The rain continued, unabated, through the night so by morning we were covered in a mixture of mud and carbon black. We stayed with the exercise through noon chow. At the conclusion of that the dozen or so of us were told to stay at a cross roads and wait for our transportation which would “be here shortly.” An hour plus later we flagged down a Jeep with some staff personnel in it and explained our problem. They said they’d take care of it. Another hour plus and we flagged down another Jeep with staff people. They also said they’d take care of it. About a half hour later a six-by shows up and says hop in. It is the truck taking all the C-rat trash to the dump, but the driver says he has orders to take us back to Camp Barrett first. One of the guys observed, “Isn’t this just the Marine Corps. Here we are, cruddy as all get out, riding on top of a load of garbage. In just over three hours we will be all spiffy-poo in our dress blues escorting colonels’ and generals’ ladies to their tables. If they could only see us now!”

We got back to Barrett about 1600 and after two showers there (one dressed to get all the mud off) and another at our quarters all made it to the Washington Hilton and the Ball at out appointed time. It was a wonderful time but all of us ended up ruining the white strip collar in our blues which was soiled permanently by the carbon black still sweating out of our neck pores, even after three showers.

Combat Engineer Officer Orientation Course & Utilities Officer Course

Vietnam

Headquarters, Marine Corps

I learned over 40 years ago that if you say what you’re sure you can deliver and beat it, people are happy. If you offer what you think they want you to deliver and miss, even by just a little, you’re a goat. I was a captain at HQMC and in charge of bachelor housing and messing military construction. I was also, as the junior officer in the section, the designated briefing chart maker on paper flip charts long before even white boards and way, way before Power Point. I had prepared a study of how we were programming the two and what a reasonable near to mid-term projection

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meant. Bluntly, we were getting farther behind in dollars fairly substantively. My conclusion was that we needed to spend at least 50% of our MilCon budget on the two to make even minimal headway. My boss, a LtCol, was impressed and I briefed the BG who was the I&L deputy. He bought the pitch and was interested in taking it all the way to SecNav, not because I was so great, but it played right into the “thrust” of Congress at the time. It would make the Corps look good in Congress AND it supported the troops, which made commanders happy.

We got set up to brief the Quartermaster General the next morning. MajGen Chip had been the I&L deputy, so I knew him and he knew me. The briefing went smoothly, but General Chip had several changes he wanted made – mostly editorial changes in verbiage. I had developed a way to splice changes in almost invisibly (even the light blue lines on the chart paper lined up), but it was a painstaking process. It still beat doing the entire briefing over. General Chip said to my boss, “Colonel, I am free all afternoon. How soon can you have my changes made well, and be back here?” My boss, being the hard-charging, sometimes before thinking, Marine said, “We’ll be back at 1300, sir.” It was almost twelve and with the round-trip travel time to Rosslyn and back that would give me maybe 45 minutes. General Chip looked at me and said, “George, you’re the poor SOB who has to do this work. Can you have it done in quality suitable for the CMC and senior staff by 1300?” I replied, “No, sir. But we can have it done well by 1500.” General Chip said, “Then 1500 it is.”

We left and the whole way back to Rosslyn in the staff car, the colonel chewed me up one side and down the other. “You don’t EVER tell a general officer, ‘No.’” And a lot more along that same line. When I finally was given an opportunity to respond I said, “Sir, General Chip was very explicit that he had the afternoon free. He said he wanted the job done as perfectly as humanly possible. I answered his question to me honestly and even gave myself just a bit of leeway since not everything goes as planned all the time. If he had said ‘be back here at 1300’ I would have said “Aye, aye, sir,” and done the best I could in that time. He will be far happier if we are back at 1445 with a perfect job than if we had promised 1300 and either had a sloppy job or had to ask for a delay until 1445.” My colonel was NOT happy with me, but when General Chip took the briefing to CMC and the senior staff and it was well received, I think maybe he learned something from me. I did go on to brief SecNav and the following budget cycle the Marine Corps committed to a minimum of 50% of MilCon to bachelor housing and messing. The net result was that the Corps got a “leg up” on all the other services, except the Air Force, for several years. Ultimately, both construction cost escalation moderated and the sense of the Congress shifted to other priorities.

I would add that I fully realized that my proposal was not in the long-term interest of the Corps. Many other areas needed attention and were, or would become higher priorities. But I recognized the reality of the MilCon “game.” If you took a project to Congress that was not in their “field of vision” they would cut the project AND the dollars. You didn’t get to substitute. So, sell them a commitment to the kinds of projects they would support. Prior to that, Congress had been on a big kick to modernize Marine Corps brigs. The result was that we had, at nearly all the major posts, brig guards living in worse conditions than the prisoners they guarded. I prioritized brig guard housing, even at a few posts where the command thought differently. I did a LOT of explaining to CG’s why their top project was not our top project – and why the desperately needed maintenance facility “fell out.” Most of them did not understand that when Congress chopped a project, the Corps lost the project and the money. Just a fine example of learning to deal with the world as you find it, not the world you would like it to be.

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BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE MCEA TREASURER

By George Carlson

I was among the last of the “war babies” (I was some 57 days short of making the “post-war” baby boom). My Dad was a Navy Supply Corps LTJG and my Mom had gone back to live with her parents. My family history was one of “citizen soldiers” – men who got in when there was fighting to be done and then got out and followed civilian pursuits. From all of them, but especially from my Dad, I acquired the conviction that military service was a basic civil duty.

Dad, after release from active duty, was a college professor – accounting was his specialty, as it was for

his father before him. That just may explain how I ended up as Treasurer. My mother was also a business education major, so as early as the 5th grade I was drawing “T-accounts” and figuring out how double entry bookkeeping worked.

By high school, I intended to fulfill what I understood as my civic duty as a naval officer – “haze grey and underway.” It’s funny how fate tends to drop roadblocks in your way. At that time, the USNA, NROTC, and the USMMA (Merchant Marine Academy) all required 20/20 vision, uncorrected. I managed to get turned down by all three. But, my senior year gym teacher was a Marine veteran and our class was marched to hear the Marine Recruiter and OSO. When I found out that the Corps would grant eyesight waivers (as long as you were correctable to 20/20) I said, “Sold to the man in the dark blue tunic, sky blue trousers with a red stripe down the side.”

That fall, I enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in the PLC program in the “old” Honolulu Armory – now the site of the new State Capitol building. I went through Junior PLC at Camp Upshur in the summer of ’64 and the Senior PLC at Chopowamisic annex in the summer of ’66. I was majoring in electrical engineering but wanted to add an MBA on the heels of it. I wrote to HQMC and offered a masters in operations research in a calendar year if they would grant a one-year deferment from active duty. It was approved since they were paying officers to go back to school for two years to get the same thing, one year in service and grade was a good deal for the Corps as well.

I was commissioned in June of 1967 and ordered to TBS in July of 1968. My first choice for MOS was data processing (my BSEE was in the data side of electrical engineering) but my second choice was engineers. I got the second and went to Courthouse Bay for the orientation course and was held over for the Utilities Officers Course.

A tour in RVN with 1st Marine Aircraft Wing followed. While I was the Wing Utilities Officer initially and then the Assistant Wing Engineer, I feel that my collateral duty, first as platoon commander and then the XO in a Ground Defense Company was equally valuable in my early years as a Marine Corps Officer. Our company was an augmentation/backup to C Co., 1st MP Bn. We

Photo by C. Gentry

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had a defensive position on the north end of the Danang airfield (around the mortuary complex) and provided a cordon force for C Co. on village sweep operations. It certainly was not comparable to what most infantry companies experienced, but it was a lot more than just wing staff.

A tour at HQMC in facilities projects and then military construction planning and programming followed giving me an early glimpse of the upper echelons. Then to Ft. Belvoir for the Engineer Officer Advanced Course. I was held over to teach a couple of classes of Post Engineers (a cross between our Facility maintenance officers and our Navy public works officers) and then to Quantico a XO of an admin company before my next overseas “pump.”

I had expected Okinawa, but got Camp Garcia, Vieques Island, Puerto Rico instead as the S-4. Duties included all the obvious engineer functions, but also a lot of supply functions as well as the fire department. That was followed by a tour as Marine Officer Instructor at UCLA in the NROTC unit. If you ask me what tour was the most fun, this one is a strong contender along with my final tour. I managed to shoehorn in all the course work for a Ph.D. in management science but never did figure out how to make the time for a dissertation!

I was then sent to Marine Corps Command and Staff College and then to 1st MarDiv as the Division Engineer, with a short interruption while a LtCol senior to me was stashed waiting to take over 1st CEB. That was followed by a year in Okinawa as the Division Engineer for 3rd MarDiv.

I returned to Camp Pendleton (on the base side), initially as the deputy in facilities, but ultimately as the Facility Maintenance Officer. That was effectively my “battalion.” In scope and capability it equals or exceeds everything else the Marine Corps has to offer. While there are other places that have more of something (I’m sure the LA street department has more miles of paving) we had more of everything. We had the obvious building maintenance including family quarters but also roads, firebreaks, water supply, sewage treatment, electrical distribution, a hospital, an airfield, warehouses and industrial facilities … and a railroad!

After retirement I managed facilities for a K-12 school district, a college campus, an international airport, and a county government. I have since, more or less, fully retired to a 28-acre hobby farm in middle Tennessee. I have served as MCEA Treasurer since 2009 based solely on familial, and some basic accounting, background). It is not my first love - that’s being out with equipment making stuff happen, but it is how I can best serve our Association.

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WELCOME HOME, LT. BONNYMAN: A PATRIOT MODEL OF SERVICE AND SACRIFICE

By Mark Alexander

October 7, 2015

“There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.” —Alexander Hamilton (1775)

Amid the precipitous decline of our nation's world standing — due to the failed foreign policies of the current chief executive,

compounded by the desecration of our most honored warriors by his ungrateful cadres — it is my great privilege to acknowledge one of

many American Patriots who honored his oath "to Support and Defend" our Constitution in the service of our country and paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

Having been associated with military intelligence communities for the last 25 years, and more recently as an advisory board member with the Medal of Honor Heritage Center, I have been deeply humbled with opportunities to meet many of the 78 living recipients of this most rare and prestigious military award, which denotes "gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of [one's] life above and beyond the call of duty."

But one recipient, whom I will know only through his honorable record of service, is Marine 2nd Lt. Alexander “Sandy” Bonnyman, Jr. Lt. Bonnyman returned home to Tennessee two weeks ago, some 72 years after he was last on his native soil.

At the onset of World War II, Bonnyman was statutorily exempt from military service because the then-30-year-old was operating a copper-mining company that produced vital material for the war effort. Despite this, Bonnyman enlisted as a private in the Marine Corps. Two years later, he set out for the Pacific aboard the Matsonia.

Bonnyman distinguished himself at Guadalcanal and in other direct enemy actions, and his exceptional leadership abilities earned him a battlefield commission as a second lieutenant in February 1943. In November of that year, he demonstrated his heroic character on Tarawa, the most strongly defended Japanese island in the Pacific, an island whose defenders claimed "it would take one million men one hundred years" to conquer.

As Executive Officer of Company F, 2d Battalion Shore Party of the 8th Marines, 2d Marine Division, Lt. Bonnyman led his men onto the Battle of Tarawa, where they took the fight to a supremely fortified Japanese enemy that had been slaughtering the Americans.

According to his Medal of Honor citation, Bonnyman was utterly determined to end that slaughter:

"Acting on his own initiative when assault troops were pinned down at the far end of Betio Pier by the overwhelming fire of Japanese shore batteries, 1st Lt. Bonnyman repeatedly defied the blasting

Photo courtesy of Mark Alexander

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fury of the enemy bombardment to organize and lead the besieged men over the long, open pier to the beach and then, voluntarily obtaining flame throwers and demolitions, organized his pioneer shore party into assault demolitionists and directed the blowing of several hostile installations. ... Determined to effect an opening in the enemy's strongly organized defense line the following day, he voluntarily crawled approximately 40 yards forward of our lines and placed demolitions in the entrance of a large Japanese emplacement as the initial move in his planned attack against the heavily garrisoned, bombproof installation which was stubbornly resisting despite the destruction early in the action of a large number of Japanese who had been inflicting heavy casualties on our forces and holding up our advance."

His citation continues:

"Withdrawing only to replenish his ammunition, he led his men in a renewed assault, fearlessly exposing himself to the merciless slash of hostile fire as he stormed the formidable bastion, directed the placement of demolition charges in both entrances and seized the top of the bombproof position, flushing more than 100 of the enemy who were instantly cut down, and effecting the annihilation of approximately 150 troops inside the emplacement. Assailed by additional Japanese after he had gained his objective, he made a heroic stand on the edge of the structure, defending his strategic position with indomitable determination in the face of the desperate charge and killing 3 of the enemy before he fell, mortally wounded. By his dauntless fighting spirit, unrelenting aggressiveness and forceful leadership throughout 3 days of unremitting, violent battle, 1st Lt. Bonnyman had inspired his men to heroic effort, enabling them to beat off the counterattack and break the back of hostile resistance in that sector for an immediate gain of 400 yards with no further casualties to our forces in this zone. He gallantly gave his life for his country."

More than 1,000 Marines would lose their lives on that tiny atoll during a hellish 76-hour battle, and it was this "dauntless fighting spirit, unrelenting aggressiveness and forceful leadership" that earned Lt. Bonnyman the Medal of Honor.

At the time of his death 72 years ago on 22 November, the remains of Bonnyman and many other Americans were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1947, the Army Graves Registration Service recovered most of those remains and those identified were repatriated to their hometowns across America. But Bonnyman and 40 other Marines were never found, most likely because Navy Combat Engineers inadvertently covered "Cemetery 27" when reconfiguring the island. They were declared "unrecoverable" by the Quartermaster General's Office in 1949.

Unrecoverable, that is, until July of this year, when Bonnyman's grandson, Clay Bonnyman Evans, brought him home.

Mark Noah, founder of History Flight, announced in early July "the discovery and recovery of historic Cemetery 27 on Betio Island as part of its 10-year, multi-million-dollar effort to recover hundreds of Marines lost to history, their nation and their families in 1943."

History Flight, in conjunction with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, located Cemetery 27 in 2011, and in March of this year confirmed the location and began excavation. Clay Evans assisted in that excavation, during which they recovered the remains of more than 120 Marines. His grandfather's distinctive dental records, which included some gold teeth, led to his ultimate identification.

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Bonnyman's Medal of Honor action is one of very few ever captured on film, though he is rarely identified in the raw combat footage.

Some 16 million Americans of the Greatest Generation served in World War II, and more than 400,000 died defending Liberty. Of those 16 million, 471 were awarded the Medal of Honor.

Welcome home, Lt. Bonnyman. May God's eternal blessing be upon you, Sir, and may the spirit of your service and humbling sacrifice continue to enliven and embolden the hearts of today's American Patriots.

“Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them.” —Thomas Jefferson (1775)

Photo courtesy of MCEA

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A PROFILE IN DEDICATION: THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Col. Ken Frantz, USMC (Ret)

Ken Frantz, was born 4 May 1947 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to hard working parents; Father “AK” was a WW I Navy Vet and mother Eunice started as a schoolteacher and became a professional businesswoman in several different fields. After two years at the University of Oklahoma and a Marine option in the NROTC program, Ken enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 14 September 1967. Upon graduation from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, he was assigned as a Troop Leader 2d Infantry Training Regiment at Camp Pendleton. Receiving his commission as a Second Lieutenant via the Enlisted

Commissioning Program, he attended Officer Candidate School, The Basic School and Marine Corps Engineer School, whereupon his first assignment was as a Platoon Commander, Delta Company, 8th Engineer Bn, 2d Force Troops, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Volunteering for overseas duty, he was transferred to 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, Okinawa, Japan in January 1971. There he served as Assistant Operations Officer; Commanding Officer of Headquarters and Service Company; Battalion Atomic Demolition’s Munitions Officer and Officer In Charge of the Leadership School.

Returning to Camp Lejeune, he served at the Marine Corps Engineer School, first as the Senior Instructor, Special Subjects, and later as the Executive Officer, Student Command. He was then transferred to Fort Belvoir, Virginia in May 1974 to attend the U.S. Army Engineer Officers’ Advanced Course.

Returning to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, Captain Frantz served as the Maintenance Operations Officer. During this assignment, he was temporarily assigned to Camp Pendleton as the Engineer Officer for OPERATION NEW ARRIVAL, where he promptly set about accomplishing the priority task of establishing camps in six days to house 18,000 Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees who were fleeing their countries after the Viet Nam conflict. Before terminating operations, the Camp Pendleton Reception and Processing Center would process over 50,000 refugees in less than seven months.

Returning to San Diego, Captain Frantz initially assumed duties as Commanding Officer of Service Company, Headquarters and Service Battalion. From October 1975 until June 1978, he served as the Facility Management Officer for the Depot.

Photo Courtesy of Ken Franz, Colonel, USMC (Ret)

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Returning overseas, this time to Iwakuni, Japan and the First Marine Aircraft Wing, he served as the Wing Utilities Officer prior to assuming duties as Executive Officer Detachment “C”, Marine Wing Support Group-17.

Following his transfer to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, he served as the Operations Officer, Logistics Officer, Commanding Officer of Support Company and Battalion Executive Officer. Additionally, during this time he served as Headquarters Commandant for the 5th Marine Amphibious Brigade during exercise GALLANT EAGLE.

Upon graduation from the Marine Corps Command & Staff College at Quantico, Major Frantz participated in the College Degree

Completion Program and graduated from Central State College, Oklahoma with a Bachelor

of Science in Computer Science and double major in Management.

In January 1985, Lieutenant Colonel Frantz was assigned as the Engineer Officer, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic where he additionally served as Engineer Staff Officer for Fleet Marine Forces Europe, the Second Marine Amphibious Force (II MAF) and the Fourth Marine Amphibious Brigade (4th MAB).

Upon his transfer to Okinawa in 1988, Lieutenant Colonel Frantz initially served as the Third Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) Engineer Officer and then as the Commanding Officer, 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion. While serving as Battalion Commander, he was selected to the grade of Colonel and served his last year on Okinawa as the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4, Third Marine Expeditionary Force.

Transferring to Hawaii, he assumed Command of Brigade Service Support Group, 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Kaneohe, Hawaii, from 26 June 1991 to 11 December 1992.

Upon joining Marine Forces, Pacific, he initially served as the MARFORPAC Liaison Officer to U.S. Central Command during OPERATION RESTORE HOPE and assumed duties as the Force Engineer Officer for Marine Forces, Pacific, on 26 April 1993, and served in that billet until 1 December 1993.

After the Commandant of the Marine Corps approved the permanent establishment of the U.S. MARCENT Liaison Officer billet to be located at Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida, Colonel Frantz performed those duties from 3 December 1993 until 1 April 1997.

Photo Courtesy of Ken Franz, Colonel, USMC (Ret)

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He then returned to Okinawa and served once again as Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4, Third Marine Expeditionary Force until his retirement June 30, 1999.

Upon retirement he and his wife Diana of DuBois, Pennsylvania, moved to their Florida cattle ranch until relocating to Ashville New York in April of 2005. In 2011, they moved to Conroe Texas to help family members and escape the cold New York winters.

Between the two, they have 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren spread out around the country.

In October of 2005, he was elected as President/Secretary of the Marine Corps Engineer Association and assumed duties as Executive Director in 2007. From 2005 until 1 Jan 2016, he served 10 years as Secretary/webmaster, 8 years as Executive Director, 6 years as President and filled in as Treasurer, Chaplain, Historian and Associate Director.

Photo Courtesy of Ken Franz, Colonel, USMC (Ret)

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HENRY “HANK” GEROW: A WW2 COMBAT ENGINEER ON IWO JIMA

By Col. Robin Gentry, USMC (Ret)

Henry was the youngest of 16 children, born to Benjamin and Angeline Gerow on July 24, 1923 in Liberty NY. The children were born about 18 months apart but even in this large family they were a close knit group and remained so all their lives. Ben was something of an entrepreneur for his

day and owned a Cadillac Dealership. He also was the Sullivan County Sheriff and the postmaster for Liberty. But the best memories for the

family were the late winter days when it was time to tap the Maple trees for the sweet sap to make Maple syrup. Ben was an honest gentile man married to a sweet lady that stayed active in the community even while raising their large family.

Henry loved sports and played everything his school offered from track to football but his favorite was basketball. When war came he left home at 17 to join the Marine Corps. This was no surprise since Hank was a member of a patriotic family with five brothers joining the military. One brother was a career military policeman, served as the Provost Marshall at the Nuremburg trails and was on duty the night Goering committed suicide.

Hank joined the Marine Corps in Aug 1943 with a friend in Binghamton, NY. He was sent to Boot Camp at Paris Island, South Carolina and then to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for Heavy Equipment Operator and Mechanic School. Following almost a years’ worth of training, in Sept 1944 he boarded a Dutch ship the SOMMELJAK in San Diego headed for Hilo, Hawaii.

The SOMMELJAK arrived on Sept 10, 1944 and due to an outbreak of meningitis the Marines were placed in quarantine at Camp Drews for 8 days. In true Marine Corps fashion, once given a clean bill of health the Marine "Forced Marched" to Camp Tarawa in Kamuela on the Parker Ranch for additional training. The Parker Ranch is famous for being the second largest ranch in the United States behind the King Ranch in Texas, but also as the training ground for the 2nd and 5th Marine Divisions operating in the Pacific theater of war. Additionally, due to the high elevation and mountainous terrain, it can be surprisingly cool at night which is just the opposite for the fighting that would occur in the tropics of the central Pacific.

One highlight of the training was a practice amphibious assault from the USS Talladega on Maui. Towards the end of training the 5th Marine Division was given two days of liberty in Honolulu before shipping out in Jan 1945 for the transit to Eniwetok and Saipan to conduct final preparation for the assault on Iwo Jima. After transfer to the USS Stokes, an Amphibious Cargo Ship (AKA), Henry and his equipment departed for Iwo on Feb 16th. The assault on Iwo Jima began on Feb 19, 1945 and would be one of the touchstone battles in the history of the Marine Corps. Due to the volcanic sand and steep slope little more than foot traffic could move up and off the beach. Engineers with bulldozers were task to cut roads off the beach to allow for equipment to move inland. Hank and his bulldozer landed on Feb 20th, where he remained in combat for the duration of the battle with the exception of one day. He was wounded in the right leg and after one day of recovery was sent back to his dozer. At one point a cameraman took newsreel footage of Hank digging foxholes.

Photo from Gerow Family

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Along with the rest of the 5th Division, Hank left Iwo Jima on March 26th and headed back to Hawaii. They arrived on April 13 and received the news of President Roosevelt’s passing. The Division was given some liberty but soon was training hard at Camp Tarawa in preparation for the invasion of Japan. After the war ended Hank and the rest of the Division were sent for occupation duty and arrived in Sasebo, Japan on Sept 22 1945. Hank and his equipment were sent by train to Fukuoka, the northern most city on Kyushu. They were stationed at an old Japanese aircraft training school and did a lot of work picking up rifles and other war equipment.

In November Hank was reassigned to the 2nd Marine Division and the 5th Marine Division was sent back to California where it was formally deactivated. Hank found himself assigned to the 2nd Engineer Battalion doing occupation duty in Nagasaki. While there he saw the aftermath of the 2nd atomic bomb and help clean up using his bulldozer. In early December 1945 the engineers and their equipment were loaded on an LST and sailed to Sasebo for camp maintenance. Hank finally headed home aboard the USS Charles Carroll in Feb 1946 and arrived in San Diego on March 14, 1946. Just two weeks later on March 27th Hank was discharged at the Bainbridge Naval Station in Maryland.

After the war he came home to Liberty and finished high school. He also reconnected with his future wife, Louise Oliva, and they were married in Aug 1948. He put his Marine Corps training as a heavy equipment operator to good use by helping to build the New York Throughway. Later he owned the Homelite dealership in Liberty, NY selling chainsaws and other tools. In 1970 he went to work for Disney in Florida where he raised his family and eventually retired. The children have fond memories of the big family reunions when the family would come together to enjoy a meal and the warmth of family and fellowship. Often over 36 members of the family would be under one roof and Ben would be the center of attention. At Christmas they would get a neighbor to dress up as Santa and pass out presents to the children. Hank, like his parents, continued to give back to the community. To highlight just a few of the contributions Hank gave to the community: he was commander of the Liberty VFW from 1955 to 1957, a lifetime member of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and a World War II Memorial Charter Member. Additionally, he was a lifetime member of the Marine Corps Engineer Association. One of his more unique contributions was that upon his return from WWII, he joined the Liberty, NY # 2 Fire Department as a Volunteer Firefighter, a role he sustained becoming the longest living lifetime member of the Fire Dept.

Hank’s daughter, Nancy, made this article possible, but unfortunately while she was working on Hank’s story he passed away on December 15, 2015. Our prayers go out to his family at the passing of this great Marine, Husband, and Father.

Photos from Gerow Family

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TRUE TO THE CORPS

Captain Frank Lindsey, USMC (Ret.) and his bride of 50 years, Eva M. Lindsay

By Cydnee C. Gentry

Frank Lindsey, Captain USMC (Ret.), joined the Marine Corps on July 8, 1953 and nine years later met the love of his life, Eva. Frank and Eva’s relationship, like many Marine Corps couples, was a partnership that only those who have gone through it, understand. It was a union for almost 50 years, dedicated to Corps and Country. The Lindseys’ relationship would defy the uncertainty of military moves, deployments, illness, and war, courageously surviving thirty years of illness and lovingly embracing life and what was thrown at them as a couple. This is their story.

Frank and Eva had completely different upbringings in opposite regions of the world. Frank was born in De Leon Springs, Florida on April 21, 1932, familiar with the citrus state’s produce and frequent hurricanes. Eva was born on June 17, 1932 in East Germany, living through World War II, and making the best of life during that time. They enjoyed life together, and loved the outdoors, raising dogs, hunting, travel, and the Marine Corps.

Frank joined the Marine Corps on July 8, 1953 serving first in NC, as a 1345/Engineer Equipment Operator at Cherry Point, NC for MATCU-63 (Marine Air Traffic Control Unit), but their story really began when Frank met Eva at his graduation from Officer Candidate School in 1962 as a W-1. The graduation was actually their first date, if one could call it that, as Eva had only met him once

Photo Courtesy of Eva Lindsey

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before. Frank graduated from the Warrant Officer Basic course in 1962. Frank was a combat engineering technical expert, and served as an Engineer Equipment Operator (1345) and Utilities Officer (1121) throughout his military career. Frank and Eva got married on September 6, 1962 in North Carolina.

Engineer Equipment Operator (1345), stationed at Cherry Point, NC for MATCU-63 was Frank’s first assignment, but he was subsequently sent to the Mountain Welfare Center in Bridgeport, California in March of 1965. Frank moved to the west coast in 1967, and from 1967-1968 served as a (1321) Utilities Officer, 11th Engineer Battalion, Camp Pendleton, California with the III Marine Amphibious Force. It was during this time period that he deployed to Viet Nam. He was stationed in Dong Ha, Vietnam with the Utilities Platoon, 11th Engineer Battalion and helped build bridges, lookout towers, access roads, showers, and living quarters for the Marines deployed there. The 11th Marines also helped local Vietnamese communities in facilitating construction repairs and digging wells for nearby villages. Frank and Eva, like most Marine families, endured the hardship of being separated for extended periods of time, but Eva held down the home front and would organize supporting events for the Marines deployed. One notable event was a book drive in which Eva was able to get the support of the mayor and governor in sending over 3,000 books to Marines in Vietnam. Frank’s contributions in the theater of operations were notable, and he received the Navy Commendation Medal with Valor for his work with the 11th Engineer Battalion.

His citation reads:

“ Captain Joel F Lindsey, United States Marine Corps for meritorious service while serving as Utilities’ Platoon Commander with Service Company, Eleventh Engineer Battalion, Third Marine Division in connection with operations against the enemy of the Republic of Vietnam from Oct 3, 1967 until 19 Oct 1968. Throughout this period, Captain Lindsey performed his duties in an exemplary and highly professional manner. Displaying exceptional initiative and resourcefulness, he expeditiously accomplished all assigned tasks and consistently provided the command with outstanding support during periods of great increased workload. When elements of the division displaced towards Khe Sanh to meet increased hostile activities in that area, he demonstrated outstanding organizational ability as he planned and supervised the installation of electrical power sources for a succession of Marine combat outposts. While at Dong Ha Combat Base, Captain Lindsey resourcefully initiated a comprehensive training program and personally instructed the members of his unit in the operation and maintenance of commercial generators obtained to provide the base with electricity. His vast technical knowledge and broad experience enabled him to insure uninterrupted electrical power, despite adverse weather and combat conditions. By his professionalism, determined initiative, and steadfast devotion to duty, Captain Lindsey contributed significantly to the accomplishment of his unit’s mission and upheld the finest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.”

In 1970, Frank received orders to Henderson Hall in Virginia, where he worked as a utilities officer assigned to work in cooperation with the USN Seabees. His work with the Seabees included many facilities and construction projects earning him merit among their ranks. The Seabees made Frank an honorary

member of their organization during that time. In 1972, Frank retired as a (1120) Utilities Officer Captain with Headquarters Battalion, Headquarters Marine Corps.

Photo Courtesy of Eva Lindsey

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After retirement from the Marine Corps, Frank and Eva settled in Fairfax County, Virginia. Frank was employed as the Utilities Branch Chief for Fairfax County, Fairfax, Virginia for 10 years until 1983. Frank and Eva enjoyed retirement and became members of many organizations and associations, including his membership in the American Legion, Post 0141. He was a Charter Member and loyal supporter of the Virginia Gun Collector’s Association, and a member of the Fairfax Rod & Gun Club. He was highly respected as an authority on U.S. Military arms and an outstanding competitive marksman along with his knowledge of historical and technical information on firearms, reloading, and competitive shooting. Frank and Eva were both fond of hunting and traveled throughout the country sharing their appreciation of the outdoors.

In 1983, the Lindseys’ world changed forever after a routine check-up at the National Naval Medical Center, revealed cancer in various parts of Frank’s body. It was thought that Agent Orange in Khe Sanh and Dong Ha was the cause of his illness. His first major surgery took place that year, leaving his face disfigured, as he lost his lower mandible. Frank underwent countless surgeries, along with chemotherapy and maximum radiation sessions. The surgeries were numerous and Eva was always there by Frank’s side. In, August 2012, surgery took part of Frank’s tongue and left him unable to eat. Eva devised an eating system that gave him nutrition, but also allowed him to eat foods he enjoyed. Frank was considered one of the longest cancer survivors, with his disabilities. The Lindseys were a resilient team, perplexing doctors and specialists for almost 30 years, both admired for their endurance and tenacity in tackling Frank’s illness.

On Saturday, 18 August 2012, Frank Lindsey lost his fight against cancer and is interred at Quantico National Cemetery in Triangle, VA on Lot 22, Grave 279. Eva donated his military flag to the cemetery, to be flown on military holidays and to honor those interred there. The Lindseys were also honored by a Navy surgeon at Al Asad, Iraq who had the flag flown in Frank’s honor during operation Iraqi Freedom, on the 5th of June 2009, with the Marines from 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing FWD HQ Marine Airbase. The flag symbolizes (to Eva) dedication and pride in the Marine Corps and Frank’s service.

Eva Lindsey was instrumental in providing information and photos for this article and will always be a loyal friend to the Marine Corps Engineer Association and the United States Marine Corps. She is a member of the Warrior Angel program that brings together the next of kin of our deceased members. It is the MCEA’s goal to offer the next of kin the opportunity to gather and meet with others that have lost their Marine. Those that want to be a part of the Warrior Angel program will be given an associate membership in the MCEA. No dues will be required of them if their departed Marine was a member in good standing at the time of death. The MCEA honors our deceased members and never removes their names from our roster; it is important to support those that they left behind. Eva remains a part of our family and a supporter of the Marine Corps Engineer Association.

Photo Courtesy of Eva Lindsey

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BUCKSKIN: THE MAKING OF A FIREBASE

By Sgt. Dave Allen

Hundreds, possibly thousands of years went by, and the only civilizations ever to set foot upon the nameless mountain top, if any ever did, failed to stop long enough even to think about what use it might serve. A jungle-covered crest, rising slightly higher than the hills closely surrounding it, is soaked in the blistering sunlight during the day, camouflaged by drifting clouds at dusk and hidden completely at night. Completely oblivious to the fighting around it; oblivious to the struggle of the allied forces fighting the communist insurgents in hopes of preserving freedom for the South Vietnamese people, the mountain stands majestically serene and awesomely foreboding.

What possible use could Hill 502 serve the Marines of the 1st Division? The Leathernecks of the Seventh Marines knew of one, and a six-man team from Company “C”, 1st Engineers made it work.

On April 14, 1969 the engineers and 38 members of Weapons Plt. Company “F”, 2nd Bn., Seventh Marines, were heli-lifted to the base of the mountain to begin a two-hour climb to the top.

The Leathernecks had one objective: to blast, cut, and bull-doze the mountain top, turning it into Fire Support Base Buckskin, an operation designed to provide the battalion’s line companies with fast, accurate artillery support. At noon on the 14th, Marines with machetes hacked through the dense foliage and cleared the way for 32 shaped charges, 40 pounds each, to be planted in a checkerboard fashion and detonated together. The shaped charges, cone-shaped and designed to blast downward upon detonation, did exactly that, tearing large holes in the ground and paving the way for the final blast phase.

Photo by Huffman

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Moving back into the mountain - after leaving it while the first shaped charges were set with 10-minute fuses, Leatherneck demolition man Pfc. Ray Lick planted 32 “cratering” charges, also 40 pounds each and also equipped with 10-minute fuses. The cratering charges, about the size of a 105 mm howitzer canister, did just what their name implies. Thirty-two large craters were blasted out, completing a full- day’s work in six hours. The next morning, a CH-53 would heli-lift a small bulldozer to the hills to complete a firebase. At 8 a.m. of the 15th, with the weapons platoon providing ample security and helping with the work, Pfc. Jim C. Peckham climbed aboard his Case-450 “Mini-dozer.” Peckham, operating the dozer in a fashion that one Marine termed, “Hell-bent for leather,” finished the actual clearing of the top, sides and downward inclines of the mountain.

After clearing and flattening the area, he then utilized his dozer to make six-gun parapets in an area 60 meters radius.

Working through the day without a break, the engineer team, led by 2nd. Lt. Charles Dismore, added a temporary landing zone and several more parapets for the 106 mm recoilless rifles and 81 mm mortars, which would work in conjunction with the artillery. “The cooperation of the grunts helping us was a great factor in our drive to get the work done as fast as possible,” reported Sgt. Steven Wright, who was in charge of the working parties during the two-day operation. Forty-eight hours after the work had begun, the engineers were through. The next day the big guns would be brought in and the firebase would come to life. Btry. “H”, 3rd Bn., Eleventh Marines would be the artillery unit calling Hill 502 home.

Staff Sgt. Nicholas Bernal, non-commissioned officer-in-charge of the team, commented, “We cleared approximately 90 thousand square feet with the demolitions and bulldozer, plus whatever work we did by hand. That’s about 1,800 square feet every hour, and of course, we didn’t work at night. That’s about 15,000 square feet cleared by each of our engineers!” After completing two days of work, the engineers returned home to Hill 55, but Hill 502, FSB Buckskin, was not through with them yet. A call informed the engineers of the need for a semi-permanent landing zone on the hill. In three hours, the LZ was constructed and Buckskin was officially completed. Total time: fifty-one hours!

During Operation Oklahoma Hills, a 100-man force composed of the original weapons platoon and “H” Btry. provided the 2nd Bn., Seventh Marines with deadly accurate fire support, from artillery to 81’s. Battery Commander, Capt. Tony Brewing, commented on the fire base construction: “It was really fast work, even though only two of the men had ever worked on a fire base before. All I had to do was tell them where we needed the parapets and it was done.” Fifty-one hours, 90,000 square feet of jungle, gallons of sweat, a lot of know-how and Leathernecks of the 1st Division gave this too-long forgotten hill a good use. The best one ever - it would help save allied soldiers and Leatherneck lives.

Photo by Huffman Photo by Huffman

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LIEUTENANT COLONEL LAUREN S. EDWARDS, USMC - MAKING HISTORY: A MARINE IS FIRST

FEMALE TO COMMAND AN ENGINEER SUPPORT BATTALION

Lieutenant Colonel Lauren S. Edwards is the first woman in Marine Corps history to take command of an engineer battalion. She took over command of the 8th Engineer Support Battalion at Camp Lejeune, NC on Monday, November 30, 2015. Lieutenant Colonel Edwards is considered a trailblazer and leader who as a company commander, deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Her forward arming and refueling point, or FARP, team was part of Task Force Tripoli and the march to Tikrit, Iraq. She led more than 150 Marines and several vehicles in defensive maneuvers while taking enemy fire. Edwards' leadership and awards reflect her combat and expeditionary experiences.

A graduate of George Washington University, Lieutenant Colonel Lauren S. Edwards attended Officer Candidate School

as an Officer Candidate Class (OCC) candidate. She graduated as the platoon honor graduate and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on 14 August 1998. Following The Basic School she became a platoon commander for Company N, the Leatherneck Program. From there she attended the Combat Engineer Officer’s Course where she graduated as the class’s honor graduate and leadership award recipient. After graduation she was assigned to 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3d Force Service Support Group from November 1999 to July 2001. During this tour, Lieutenant Colonel Edwards served as a Platoon Commander in Company A, Commanding Officer, Combat Service Support Detachment-35 (Philippines), and Executive Officer, Company A. In addition, she was assigned to the MEU Service Support Group-31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit as the Engineer Detachment Commander.

In July 2001, Lieutenant Colonel Edwards was transferred to Marine Wing Support Squadron-371, Marine Wing Support Group-37, 3d Marine Air Wing, where she served as the Commanding Officer, Engineer Operations Company from August 2001 to July 2003. She was promoted to captain in November 2002. While the company commander, she deployed her company in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (later Operation Iraqi Freedom-1) and became the Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) Team Bravo Commander in support of MWSG-37 and 3d MAW operations. In addition, her FARP team was part of Task Force Tripoli and the march to Tikrit.

In July 2003, Lieutenant Colonel Edwards transferred to Officer Assignments, Manpower Management, Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Headquarters Marine Corps, as the Company Grade Monitor for Monitor Assignment Code (MAC)-17. At the completion of her tour, Lieutenant Colonel Edwards was selected for resident PME at Expeditionary Warfare School. She graduated with honors in May 2007. Upon completion of school, Lieutenant Colonel Edwards was transferred to the Officer Candidate School as a summer augment in the Academics Instructor Section. Upon completion, she transferred to 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group and was assigned as the Commanding Officer, Company B. Her company was assigned temporary duty to

LtCol Lauren Edwards, 2dMLG Photo

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Combat Logistics Battalion (CLB)-6, Combat Logistics Regiment-2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group effective 1 November 2007. She deployed with CLB-6 in support of OIF 08.1 as the Engineer Company Commander. Upon their return, the company returned to 8th Engineer Support Battalion.

Lieutenant Colonel Edwards was promoted and relinquished command in November 2008 and became the Battalion Operations Officer. In February 2009, she was transferred to Combat Logistics Regiment – 2 as the Operations/Engineer Officer to deploy with Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan in support of OEF 9.1. After her return in 2010, Lieutenant Colonel Edwards assumed command of Recruiting Station Charleston, West Virginia. Upon completion, she was selected for resident PME at the Naval War College, Newport, RI. She graduated with distinction in June 2014 and transferred to the I MEF G-3, where she is the Information Operations Planner.

Lieutenant Colonel Edwards is a graduate of the Tactical Logistics Officer Course. She holds a master’s degree in Leadership Studies from Marshall University and a master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. She is the recipient of the Navy League’s 2010 Captain Winifred Quick Collins Award for Inspirational Leadership and is a Kentucky Colonel. Her personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal with two stars in lieu of third award, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with the Combat “V” device and two stars in lieu of third award, and the Combat Action Ribbon.

LtCol Lauren Edwards, Marine Corps Times Photo: Cpl Ryan Young/Marine Corps

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PLUCK, POLITICS & SHORE PARTY

by George F. Allen, Jr.

The Capture, Finagling, Disassembly, Rigging & Extraction of the Two Largest Enemy Artillery Pieces Captured During the Vietnam War, circa late February 1969.

Others, like the late Sergeant Donald F. Myers of the 9"' Marines, writing in his book YOUR WAR -MY WAR, 'a Marine in Vietnam', describes firsthand, the pluckish capture of two intact Russian 122 mm field guns, during Operation Dewey Canyon in the Ashau Valley, on or shortly after 20 February 1969.1

Describing the 11th day of Operation Dewey Canyon, Sergeant Don Myers recalled:

"I got the dubious honor of calling reveille for the 3rd platoon of Charlie Company 1/9 this morning, since I'd been awake the entire night, except for a couple of catnaps. The entire company was saddled up and ready to go by 0700.

A squad from 2nd platoon led the way with 1st and 3rd platoons following in trace. The battalion command group was sandwiched between Company C and Company A. We got 75 meters from the old position and found ourselves pinned down by machine gun fire from a large bunker complex. It was like every story I'd ever heard regarding Marine combat operations on a dozen Pacific Islands during WWII. They were well dug in and a fanatic group and highly trained in bunker warfare. I never fought the Japanese, but from everything I’d ever heard or read about them, I got the feeling we were facing a similar foe.

It took until 1040 hours to destroy four bunkers and get on the move again. I had two men wounded and the 2nd platoon had two wounded and one KIA.

The enemy lost 16 dead, two RPD machine guns and a 20 mm cannon knocked out, along with the remains of a 12.7 mm AA gun with mount and tripod.

The march continued along the flat mountain shelf in a southwesterly heading. The plateau ended, dipping into a small valley with another small mountain facing us to our right front. Marine jets were making passes at the small mountain dropping napalm.

When the air strike lifted, 1st platoon started up the small mountain. A tremendous firefight erupted and I could hardly believe the tremendous volume of weapon fire coming off that slope, considering the pounding our flyboys had just tossed in there.

I grabbed the radio handset from PFC Fish and monitored the net, hoping to find out what was going on. 2ndLt Archie Biggers, platoon commander of the 1st platoon was shouting frantically over the radio to Capt. Kelly, C Company CO, 'There's big guns up ahead and a big truck is burning.

Photo Courtesy of George Allen

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We're gonna need help up here fast!' The radio transmission went dead. Charlie Six tried to raise his lieutenant without a response.

I yelled at my people to drop their packs and go forward on the run. Our rear element pushed to the front of the platoon, and they too got caught up in our charge, dropping their packs as they joined the rush up the large hill. The mid-afternoon sun was blistering and bullets were whizzing and zinging through the underbrush and beating into trees. The noise of gunfire and small explosions was all but deafening as I looked up the slope of the mountain-like hill. Not forty meters away stood the largest enemy artillery piece I'd ever seen. The long barrel of the cannon looked like it was pointing straight down the trail at not only me, but the rest of the men that were scrambling up the slope as well. I yelled out loud, 'Sweet Jesus, don't shoot that mother!' In seconds, I moved past the unmanned gun and noticed several bodies of dead NVA lying near the weapon. I was glad someone had gotten them before they had unlimbered that gun for firing. The barrel extended out 30 feet and the tires came up to my waist. A caisson affair was in back of the artillery piece with an open, ready box of big shells sitting upright in slots.

Lt. Biggers was being treated by a corpsman for back and arm wounds. My platoon commander, 2ndLt Bob Palisay, was also being treated by a corpsman for hand grenade wounds. Lt. Palisay ordered me to continue the assault. I got the 3rd platoon moving again and moved uphill less than 300 feet, when stopped by a renewed volume of small-arms fire. I plopped to the ground next to a burning hulk of a tracked artillery prime mover. Napalm had frozen the driver behind the wheel, still engulfed in flames. Another 'crispy critter' lay burning a few feet from me. Squad leader of the first squad, Cpl Jack Reynolds, crawled over to me wanting to know what we should do next. I don’t know what came over me just then. Maybe I was mad or just didn't care anymore. It was like a bloodlust of wanting to get to the top of this hill. I said a foul word or two, then stood up and yelled, 'Let's go!' Jack didn't say a word, but stood up next to me. Both of us advanced with our weapons leveled at the hip, firing away.

The entire platoon was on its feet, surging forward, screaming at the top of their lungs. A cluster of five enemy soldiers came running downhill toward Jack and me. We cut them down without a pause in our stride.

Obscenities rang through the virgin jungle as the enemy tried to make a stand. The entire platoon was maneuvering by fire, shooting their rifles on automatic select, as we hosed the enemy.

We soon passed another artillery piece, a twin to the one below us. Enemy dead were lying all around it.

I have no idea what eerie thoughts the enemy must have had as this rebel-rousing, reeling, cursing, insane group of Marines came at them in a John Wayne style charge. I have a feeling, if I saw this berserk group trotting towards me, waving and shooting rifles, many of them with bayonets affixed and screaming bloody murder, I may have been inclined to break and run. And that’s just what the enemy did. I glimpsed shadowy figures bobbing and weaving at a distance away from our advancing force.

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Sergeant Myers, at the end of this firsthand description of the capture of the two intact Russian 122 mm field guns, states, "This has been an edited version" of my book account, published in SCUTTLEBUTT, 'The Voice of the Central Indiana Marine', 20012

Others however, will likely NOT tell you of the 'behind the scene' politicking that day and next, between U.S. Marine Corps brass and senior Army officers. The Marines needed one or more U.S. Army-controlled CH54 'flying cranes', to effect four dangerous flights into and out of Indian country, ferrying out the heavy, lengthy barrels from both guns, and their respective bulky, wheeled gun

carriages, back to the Dong Ha forward combat base in Quang Tri Province, just South of the DMZ. The political resolution? The Marines got their flying crane(s) alright, but only upon promise to give one field gun to the Army, as their 'war trophy'. At least that's the way the story circulated among junior officers in the area at the time.

Enter the 3rd Shore Party Battalion into this fray. Once the extraction deal was cut, an experienced helo-lift rigging officer, yours truly, was assigned to fly via chopper to LZ Cunningham, to collect cargo slings and nets for retrograde movement of the two guns and related equipment. At some point, ordnance specialists were assigned to accompany me to prepare the two 122mm Russian field guns for helo-lifting from the heavily forested area, where they'd been captured earlier.

Helo-lift rigging officers understood Marine CH46A transport helicopters could carry a max load of about 4,400 pounds, but we were restricted to rigging lifts of engineer equipment and supplies weighing between 1700 and 3000 pounds, depending on weather and terrain conditions; the Army's CH47 could handle, for our purposes, an impressive 12,000 pounds; the Marine CH53A 9,000 pounds, and the awesome, but funny-looking CH54 flying crane, again for Shore Party planning purposes, 14,500 pounds. The weight of one Russian 122 mm field gun was, coincidentally, estimated to be 14,500 pounds, though later news reports put their weight at 15,500 pounds. Not knowing this at the time, a decision was made to rig on the side of caution, with the ordnance technicians separating the long, heavy steel barrels from their bulky, wheeled undercarriages, then extracted in separate lifts by one or another flying crane.

All went well that first afternoon. The ordnance guys did their job, then collected miscellaneous gun parts and hardware, large fixed brass base artillery shells and projectiles, along with firing tables printed in Russian. Don't recall whether it was too late in the afternoon for helo-extractions, or we got socked in by weather; but regardless, we spent the night in a defensive perimeter around the dissembled Russian 122mm field guns, and other captured enemy ordnance, equipment and supplies. Late that night, we engaged in a pitched firefight with the NVA consisting mostly of small arms fire and RPGs exploding overhead in the trees.

Photo Courtesy of George Allen

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Sometime during the next day, Phantoms came on station to drive away any remaining enemy troops and prepare for a hopefully safe and uneventful arrival of the flying cranes, to retrograde the rigged barrels and carriages, with transport helicopters lifting out the aforementioned cargo nets. All went well, pretty much without further incident. Though, one minor display of Marine camaraderie wouldn't see its surprising and just reward until more than 20 years later in an incident described in this excerpt from the unpublished short story entitled 'PUC Beer':

I was a reserve Major in the U.S. Marines at the time...at the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado.... The first night on board...everyone wore their personal and unit decorations or ribbons. Not long after the reception began, another Marine Major walked into the room (and) I saw he'd served a full tour in RVN...qualified for the CAR (combat action ribbon), and a few other personal decorations. But what hooked me was the dark blue ribbon bordered (with) a gold frame!

I was wearing the same unit decoration. Almost immediately indignation welled up inside. Why? I was aware this singular award, the U.S. Army Presidential Unit Commendation or PUC...(was) awarded only one time during the Vietnam War; in which an Army command honored a Marine unit, the 9th Marine Regiment, for valor in combat during Operation Dewey Canyon in the Ashau Valley. It was during one particular assault...that the largest enemy artillery pieces used during the Vietnam War, were captured.... Even after 20 years, I pretty much knew the relatively few who came out of the Ashau Valley after that battle, and this Major wasn't one of them!

So, I walked up and asked, 'Were you in the Ashau Valley during February 1969?' He replied, 'No, not exactly, but over it.' Then I noticed the Naval Aviator's wings above his left breast pocket. He continued. ‘I was flying close air support for part of that operation.' While that response certainly satisfied me, it unleashed a torrent of long repressed memories: two huge 122 mm Russian field guns...a couple dead Russians; a burning NVA prime mover; steep terrain and hastily dug foxholes, a pitched firefight during the night, with RPGs exploding overhead; dead and wounded Marines; and the next day, as rigging officer, dissembling and securing gun carriages and barrels, using long nylon cargo straps; then watching as flying crane helicopters hauled their historic loads back towards Dong Ha forward combat base.

But most stirring of all, was the distinct memory of two Phantom jets coming on station early that second morning, flying swiftly and silently in from behind us at treetop level, slamming us with their delayed sound wash. They turned and circled to napalm and strafe the forward slope of the mountain drooping down from our position, driving off remnants of the attacking enemy force so flying cranes could come in and lift-out the captured (artillery) in relative safety. When their ordnance was finally expended, they checked out with us on the radio; and as our radioman said, 'Thanks guys!' into his handset, one of them did a wing wave in reply!

And here he stands, 20 years later, right in front of me! I couldn't help it, tears rolled down my checks, then and now. Guess I don’t have to tell you, that Major didn't buy himself one beer during the two weeks we were together again."3

Did I recall my sling rigging configurations for these unique helo-lifts? Not at first. But then I found my 42-year-old platoon leaders pocket notebook. In it, right after Shore Party Rigging Officer 'sling configuration notes' for rigging 105 mm and 155 mm USMC howitzers,4 was this notation: '122 mm Russian gun @ approximately 14,500 pounds. Needed three, four leg nylon slings and one large clevis, per gun.' The barrel alone, required one sling assembly, with two 16 feet long nylon straps

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affixed to each end of the long, heavy steel barrel Then, the 'doughnut holes' of two separate sling assemblies were attached together with a large clevis. At that point, four straps, each 9 feet long, were affixed, two to each of the gun carriage axles. The remaining four legs, all 17 feet long, were attached to the trail legs of the gun carriage. Empty sandbags were placed at suspected friction points to prevent cutting of the sling legs and abrasive damage to the cargo.

Later, back at Dong Ha Forward Combat Base, the barrels were reattached to their respective wheeled carriages; then, I suppose, shipped back to the United States. I know for sure, one ended up at the Quantico Marine Base, where for a number of years it served as an outdoor museum exhibit, and memorial to several lieutenants killed during its' capture.5 It's my understanding; this is the same Russian 122 mm field gun now on static display within the new USMC Museum at Quantico, VA.

The other Russian 122 mm field gun? All I know is, when interviewed during oral history recordings of this event, I asked about it. At first, there was complete denial of any knowledge. But, over the years, the tale I heard time and again, involved consecutive scenarios. First, the Army sent its finagled war trophy to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, their artillery training base, where it was presumably fired and evaluated for its combat effectiveness. After all, we did capture and retrograde ammunition and firing tables for the two guns. But then the tale trail goes quiet for awhile, unless one wants to believe it was shipped surreptitiously to Afghanistan, during the Russian occupation, where it and its remaining ammunition were used by rebel forces to fire on the very folk who used it against U.S. forces in the Republic of Vietnam, decades earlier. True? Someone knows, but probably isn't talking. It does make for an intriguing tale, especially if no one can locate the 'missing gun'. But then again, it just might still be at Ft. Sill.

End Notes.

1. YOUR WAR-MY WAR, 'a Marine in Vietnam', Donald F. Myers, Indianapolis, IN., 20000

2. The edited version of this excerpt from: YOUR WAR-MY WAR, was featured in the February 2001 issue of SCUTTLEBUT, The Voice of the Central Indiana Marine, Volume-# 27, Issue # 2., pages 1&2.

3. This short story,' PUC Beer' is One of several Viet Nam War recollections penned by George Allen for an as yet, unpublished personal memoir: Other titles include:' Making Amends', 'The Chester Flashback', and 'Four for Fortitude: A Gold Signet ring, Steel Bullet, John Wayne P38 & One Nasty Flechette'. All available from PMN Publishing in Franklin, IN. 4613 1

4. Shore Party Rigging Officer's notes circa 1969, for rigging 105 mm & 155 mm USMC howitzers for helo-lifting in the Vietnam combat-theatre: 105 mm @ approximately 4,780-4,900 pounds. Need one, four leg sling assembly. Use choker hitches to attach two@ 9'0"nylon straps to the end of the howitzer

Photo Courtesy of George Allen

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barrel, then two @ 12'0"nylon straps to the two trail legs. 155 mm @ approximately 12,660 -14,600 pounds. Need two, four leg sling assemblies, three large clevices and two small clevices. Using one large clevis, connect the two 'doughnut holes' together; then attach three nylon straps @ 7'0" length, to each of two axles using a large clevis on each axle; and remaining two nylon straps @ 16'0" are attached to the hooked together trail legs, using two small clevices.

5. Launching an Air-Ground Museum' an article penned by Brooke Nihar, contains a black and white photo of one of the two Russian 122 mm field guns, a decade or more ago, at the original USMC museum out beyond the airstrip at Quantico, VA, when it was used as an outside historical display, and memorial to the lieutenants killed during its’ capture. No publication listed.

Bibliography of references used to prepare this unofficial anecdotal history of the capture and retrograde of the two largest intact pieces of enemy equipment (artillery) during the Viet Nam conflict.

'Operation Dewey Canyon', Robert H. Barrow, Marine Corps Gazette, November 1981, pp. 84-89

'Night Ambush!’ Dave Winecoff, Marine Corps Gazette, 1984

'Moving to the Sound of the Enemy's Guns', Wesley L. Fox, Marine Corps Gazette, November 1989.

'Operation Dewey Canyon', Tom Bartlett, Leatherneck, February 1994, pp.34-39.

Michael Conroy's 'Don't Tell America', MCA Bookservice, 1994

Photographs taken before, during & after preparation for helo-lifting of two Russian 122 mm field guns, from the Ashau Valley, during February 1969, during Operation Dewey Canyon.

Material researched and prepared by

Lieutenant Colonel George F. Allen Ur., USMCR, retired.

271 Restin Road, Greenwood, IN 46142

September 2011.