GARDINER — Fifty years to the day of his death fighting in Vietnam, a Medal of Honor recipient was remembered and honored by fellow sailors, friends and family at his gravesite in Gardiner.
Marvin Glenn Shields, a construction mechanic 3rd class serving with Seabee Team 1104, was killed June 10, 1965, while in combat in Dong Xoai.
He was 25.
Shields, who had lived in Gardiner, is interred at Gardiner Cemetery just off of U.S. Highway 101.
His gravesite was visited by more than 150 family, friends, colleagues, Navy and Army dignitaries and others who came to pay their respects.
Because of his “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity” while under fire, Shields posthumously received with the nation’s highest military honor, the only Seabee to be so recognized.
“Petty Officer Shields’ selfless actions at Dong Xoai saved American lives,” said Mark Geronime, commanding officer of Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest, headquartered in Silverdale, who hosted the remembrance ceremony.
“The Seabee community is proud to ensure Shields’ can-do’ spirit is carried on and shared with others,” he said.
Rear Adm. Katherine L. Gregory, commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Command and chief of civil engineers, spoke while some 50 Navy personnel stood at attention at the ceremony.
“This is a very special event, and it is a rare event,” Gregory said during the ceremony, which included a gun salute and the playing of the “taps” bugle call.
She said the attendees were in the “company of heroes.”
“It is appropriate that we take pause and really take stock of what we are doing. I don’t believe it does honor today to those we are remembering to simply come and say we are going to celebrate and remember.”
An MH-60 Seahawk helicopter flyover graced the ceremony from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.
Lourdes Alvarado-Ramos, director of the state Department Veterans Affairs, also attended.
During the battle on June 9 and 10, 1965, Seabee Team 1104 and the Army’s 5th Special Forces Detachment A-342, were engaged in a fierce battle with two Viet Cong regiments estimated to be 1,500 strong.
Two Seabees, including Shields, and three Green Berets were killed during the battle.
“The camp at Dong Xoai was one of the first opportunities where a team of Seabees and Green Berets were created, and for the limited time they served and fought together, they bonded into one cohesive unit,” Geronime said.
“Wow! What a day,” said Joan Shields-Bennett, Shield’s widow.
The two were wed in November 1962. She has since remarried to Capt. Richard Bennett, retired from the Navy, and lives in Gardiner.
“What a memorable event. What a tribute,” she said.
“It warms my heart to be standing with so many people who have such a deep respect for Marvin.”
As Shield’s wife, Shields-Bennet “certainly had a different relationship and observed him as a young man being exposed to the wider world outside our universe of the Olympic Peninsula,” she said.
“He understood that freedom isn’t free. This exposure to love of country and our duty to serve certainly had an influence throughout his short life.”
Shields-Bennet also questioned “what makes a person put his life on the line for others? For Marvin, I believe it was his deep caring for his friends, his comrades in arms, his brothers.
“Could he have shied away from the overwhelming odds that faced him that day in 1965, or even given up? Not the man I knew,” she said.
“His love for other people was paramount in his life. Looking back on his life, I can see where his unselfishness was always there.”
The ceremonies were followed by a reception at American Legion Post 26, 209 Monroe St. in downtown Port Townsend. The post is named in honor of Shields.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
