ONCE a MARINE, ALWAYS a MARINE 50Th Anniversary of Start Of
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ONCE A MARINE, DUPAGE COUNTY ALWAYS A MARINE MARINE CORPS LEAGUE VOLUME IV ISSUE XII JUNE 2015 DETACHMENT 399 50th Anniversary OFFICERS - of start of Viet Commandant — John Olenjnicki Nam War 630-665-8799 Sr. Vice Cmdt—Rita Kollias 630-362-7210 Jr. Vice Cmdt—Larry Adamiec 630-257-2510 Jr Past Cmdt—Victoria Cobbett 630– 257-6423 Paymaster—Chuck Wingard 630-627-1766 Adjutant—Danielle Provenzale 630-426-3895 Judge Advocate-Gary Cobbett 630-257—6423 Chaplain—Don Kenyon 630-681-0911 Sgt at Arms—Roger Gaden Clockwise, from top left: U.S. combat operations in Ia 630-369-9878 Drang, ARVN Rangers defending Saigon during the 1968 Tet Offensive, two Douglas A-4C Skyhawks en Trustee—Bill Barta route for airstrikes against North Vietnam after the Gulf 630-263-0700 of Tonkin incident, ARVN recapture Quảng Trị during Trustee—George Bormann, Jr the 1972 Easter Offensive, civilians fleeing the 1972 Bat- 630-372-9037 tle of Quảng Trị, burial of 300 victims of the 1968 Huế Massacre. Trustee—John Meschi Story begins on page 2. 630-495-7336 Quarter- Dues – New Member $35, Renewal $32, Life Member (18-35 yrs. old) $500, (36-50yrs old) $400, (51-64 yrs. old) $300, over 65 yrs. old $200 PAGE 2 50th ANNIVERSARY VIETNAM The Vietnam War (Vietnamese: Chiến ing the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident, in which a tranh Việt Nam), also known as the Second Indo- U.S. destroyer clashed with North Vietnamese china War, and also known in Vietnam as Re- fast attack craft, which was followed by the Gulf sistance War Against America (Vietnamese: of Tonkin Resolution, which gave the U.S. presi- Kháng chiến chống Mỹ) or simply the American dent authorization to increase U.S. military pres- War, was a Cold War-era proxy war that oc- ence. Regular U.S. combat units were deployed curred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 beginning in 1965. Operations crossed interna- November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April tional borders: bordering areas of Laos and Cam- 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War bodia were heavily bombed by U.S. forces as (1946–54) and was fought between North Vi- American involvement in the war peaked in etnam—supported by the Soviet Union, China 1968, the same year that the communist side and other communist allies—and the government launched the Tet Offensive. The Tet Offensive of South Vietnam—supported by the United failed in its goal of overthrowing the South Viet- States and other anti-communist allies. The Viet namese government but became the turning point Cong (also known as the National Liberation in the war, as it persuaded a large segment of the Front, or NLF), a South Vietnamese communist United States population that its government's common front aided by the North, fought a guer- claims of progress toward winning the war were rilla war against anti-communist forces in the re- illusory despite many years of massive U.S. mili- gion. The People's Army of Vietnam (also known tary aid to South Vietnam. as the North Vietnamese Army) engaged in a Gradual withdrawal of U.S. ground forces more conventional war, at times committing large began as part of as "Vietnamization", which units to battle. aimed to end American involvement in the war As the war continued, the part of the Viet while transferring the task of fighting the Com- Cong in the fighting decreased as the role of the munists to the South Vietnamese themselves. De- NVA grew. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces spite the Paris Peace Accord, which was signed relied on air superiority and overwhelming fire- by all parties in January 1973, the fighting con- power to conduct search and destroy operations, tinued. In the U.S. and the Western world, a large involving ground forces, artillery, and airstrikes. anti-Vietnam War movement developed as part In the course of the war, the U.S. conducted a of a larger counterculture. large-scale strategic bombing campaign against Direct U.S. military involvement ended North Vietnam, and over time the North Vietnam- on 15 August 1973. The capture of Saigon by the ese airspace became the most heavily defended in North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the world. the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam The U.S. government viewed its involve- were reunified the following year. The war exact- ment in the war as a way to prevent a Communist ed a huge human cost in terms of fatalities. Esti- takeover of South Vietnam. This was part of a mates of the number of Vietnamese service mem- wider containment policy, with the stated aim of bers and civilians killed vary from 800,000 to 3.1 stopping the spread of communism. The North million. Some 200,000–300,000 Cambodians, Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were 20,000–200,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U.S. ser- fighting to reunify Vietnam under communist vice members also died in the conflict. rule. They viewed the conflict as a colonial war, Upcoming Newsletters will feature arti- fought initially against forces from France and cles on the Third Marines and Con Thien a Unit- then America, and later against South Vietnam. ed States Marine Corps combat base located near Beginning in 1950, American military ad- the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone about 3 km visors arrived in what was then French Indochina. from North Vietnam in Gio Linh District, Quảng U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, Trị Province. It was the site of fierce fighting with troop levels tripling in 1961 and again in from February 1967 through February 1968. 1962. U.S. involvement escalated further follow- MEET OUR NEW COMMADANT PAGE 3 From 1988-1991, Dunford was as- gon announced that President Barack signed as the Marine Officer In- Obama had appointed Dunford to serve structor at the College of the Holy as the commanding general of I Marine Cross and Officer Candidates Expeditionary Force and Marine Forces School at Marine Corps Base Quan- Central Command. tico. In 1992, he was assigned to Less than a year into that assign- HQMC as a member of the Com- ment, Dunford was nominated by Secre- mandant’s staff group and subse- tary of Defense Robert Gates to succeed quently as the Senior Aide to the James F. Amos as Assistant Comman- Commandant of the Marine Corps. dant of the Marine Corps, who had been In 1995, he joined the 6th Marine nominated to succeed James Conway as Regiment as the executive officer, Commandant. President Obama approved then went on to command 2nd Bat- his promotion and Dunford assumed the talion 6th Marines from 1996 until duties and new rank on 23 October 2010. 1998. On October 10, 2012, General In 1999, Dunford was the Dunford was nominated by President Barack Obama to lead U.S. and NATO executive assistant to the Vice [13] Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of forces in Afghanistan. After an investi- Staff (under both Generals Joseph gation into inappropriate communications Ralston and Richard Myers) and as from the then-current commander in Af- Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. (born Chief, Global and Multilateral Af- ghanistan, General John R. Allen, was December 8, 1955) is a United States Ma- fairs Division (J-5) until 2001. He opened, Secretary Panetta requested that rine Corps general and the present Com- next served in the 1st Marine Divi- General Dunford's nomination be acted mandant of the Marine Corps, the 36th sion where he was assigned to com- on promptly. Dunford assumed command such one. Prior to this, he served as com- mand the 5th Marine Regiment, then of the International Security Assistance mander of the International Security Assis- Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan as the division's chief of staff and [2] tance Force and United States Forces- Af- assistant commander. During this (USFOR-A) from General Allen, who ghanistan from February 2013 until August time, he served 22 months in Iraq.[4] had since been cleared in the Pentagon's 2014. He has commanded several units, During his command of RCT-5 in investigation involving his e-mails in the and is noted for leading the 5th Marine the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he earned Petraeus scandal, on February 10, 2013, Regiment during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. the nickname "Fighting Joe" under On June 5, 2014, General Dun- Dunford was born in Boston in James Mattis. ford was nominated by President Obama 1955, and raised in Quincy, Massachusetts. From 2005-2007, Dunford to be the 36th Commandant of the Ma- He graduated from Boston College High returned to Headquarters Marine rine Corps. His nomination was con- School in 1973 and from Saint Michael's Corps to serve as the Director of the firmed by the Senate on July 23, 2014, College in June 1977. He earned his com- Operations Division of the Plans, and he became Commandant on October mission the month of his college gradua- Policies and Operations staff, and 17, 2014. tion. He is a graduate of the United States eventually became the Vice Director Army War College, Ranger School and the for Operations (J-3) at the Joint Amphibious Warfare School. He holds a Staff in 2008.[6] In December 2007, Master of Arts degree in Government from Dunford was nominated for promo- Georgetown University and a second Mas- tion to the rank of major general.[7] ter of Arts in International Relations from In February, Secretary of Defense the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Robert Gates announced that Presi- at Tufts University.