Three War Soldier

Shortly after finishing high school, eighteen-year-old Guy Hector McCarey, Jr. of Walhalla enlisted in the United States Army. It was June 1943 and the world was engulfed in war from the broad expanses of the Pacific to the hot, dry fields of Sicily. McCarey, who had attended high schools in Charlotte, Walhalla and Florida, enlisted at Camp Blanding, near Jacksonville, FL and served in the European Theatre during World War II. After the war, he attended Clemson College as a veteran, serving as an ROTC cadet second lieutenant and graduating in January, 1950 with a degree in English. McCarey returned to the Army as an officer and was soon in the midst of another war, this time in . Following his assignment there, he returned for a tour of duty in Germany.

In 1964, McCarey was serving a peacetime tour of duty as the executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry in Korea. His driver at the time was Richard Bradley. Forty-five years later, Bradley would describe McCarey as “quite a soldier…a refined gentleman…[who] was also an accomplished pianist.” Bradley remembered that after the Tonkin Bay incident in August 1964, during which North Vietnamese torpedo boats allegedly attacked the USS Maddox, “Major McCarey told me he was going to volunteer to go to .”

The Tonkin Gulf incident would lead to a massive escalation of US involvement in Vietnam, beginning with greater assistance to the South Vietnamese forces already in the field fighting North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops. McCarey’s transfer was approved and in 1965 he was assigned to Advisory Team 70, working as senior advisor to the 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment of the Army of Vietnam’s (ARVN) 5th Infantry Division.

The Michelin Rubber Plantation was located near Dau Tieng District, 72 kilometers northwest of Saigon, about halfway between the capital and the Cambodian border. The sprawling 31,000 acre rubber plantation was the largest in Vietnam—and was both an important source of revenue for the South Vietnamese government and a convenient staging area for Viet Cong guerillas.

US and ARVN forces conducted frequent operations to drive North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces out of the plantation. One of these operations was underway on November 27, 1965, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Associated Press photographer Horst Fass filed this report:

DAU TIENG, Vietnam - (AP) ’s 7th Regiment died at 8 a.m. Saturday. It died on a sprawling Michelin rubber plantation after trying desperately to fight off hordes of Communist soldiers charging in waves through the rubber trees. Most of the Vietnamese troopers, with their American advisors, fought to the last bullet. The Senior U.S. advisor (Major Guy H. McCarey) to the regimental commander was found beside a foxhole. At 7 a.m. Saturday, he had radioed a nearby Ranger battalion advisor: “My radio operator has just been killed, and we can’t hold much longer unless we get air strikes immediately. Put the strikes right among us, that’s where the Communist are.” A few minutes later the advisor, his voice still calm, called, “I’ll have to get out of here. We’re folding up.” He didn’t make it.

McCarey was killed by fragmentation wounds along with four other American advisors and most of the ARVN soldiers.

McCarey, the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Guy H. McCarey Sr., of Walhalla, was survived by one brother, John McCarey of Cocoa Beach, FL, and a sister, Mrs. Carolyn Schumacher of St Petersburg, FL. His decorations included the Bronze Star with Valor Device and 1 Oak Leaf Cluster; Purple Heart with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster; Army Commendation Medal with Valor Device; American Campaign Medal; European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; Army of Occupation Medal; National Defense Service Medal with 2 Bronze Service Stars; ; with 1 Bronze ; Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, Individual Award, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, Republic of Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm; Vietnamese Civic Action, 1st Class; Vietnam National Order, 5th Class; United Nations Service Medal (Korea); Vietnamese Technical Service Medal, 1st Class; Vietnamese Honor Medal, 1st Class; Republic of Vietnam Staff Medal; Republic of ; Republic of Korea War Service Medal; Vietnam Wounded Medal; Combat Infantry Badge, 3rd Award.

Major Guy Hector McCarey, Jr. is buried in the Bethel Presbyterian Cemetery in Walhalla.

For more information on Guy Hector McCarey, Jr. see: https://cualumni.clemson.edu/page.aspx?pid=1687

For additional information about Clemson University’s Scroll of Honor visit: https://cualumni.clemson.edu/scrollofhonor

AP article courtesy of Richard Bradley