GARDINER — It is said that Medal of Honor recipient Marvin G. Shields stood in the Gardiner Cemetery years ago and told his brother that it was the place where he wanted to be buried.
“So it’s good that we’re here,” said Jerry Landcastle, a retired Master Chief of the Seabees who spoke at a Veterans Day ceremony at the cemetery on Tuesday.
Those in the armed services both past and present were honored for their service, and the service of those before them.
But it was Shields who was the guest of honor at the ceremony.
Landcastle ended his roll call by calling out Shields’ name.
From somewhere in the crowd of about 100, which huddled on the cemetery lawn in the sharp cold of a November afternoon, a man called out, “Construction Mechanic Third Class Shields is here, but unable to respond.”
Shields has been in the Gardiner Cemetery for 43 years since being laid to rest by his family in 1965.
A Port Townsend High School graduate, Shields was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson for gallantry during combat in Vietnam.
He was 25 when he was killed on June 10, 1965.
He was a mechanic when he went to Vietnam as a Seabee, the Navy’s mobile construction battalion.
He is the only member of the Seabees to ever earn the Medal of Honor.
Joan Shields Bennett, Shields’ widow, was one of a handful of family members in attendance.
The 64-year-old Bennett lives in Gardiner ¬– the same place she met her late husband years ago, before the war.
And while she is remarried, she said she never forgets Marvin.
“I’m just so incredibly proud of him,” Bennett said.
“I’m so proud of what he did and how he lived.
“And I am still just terribly sorry and terribly sad that he is gone.”
Courage under fire
The crowd grew silent as Landcastle told a truncated version of the events that led to both Shield’s award and to his death.
According to military records:
Shields’ Seabee team arrived at Dong Xoai, Vietnam on June 10, 1965.
He was wounded when his unit came under heavy fire from a Viet Cong regiment employing machine gun, heavy weapons and small arms.
Shields continued to do his job despite the injury, resupplying his fellow soldiers with ammunition and returning the enemy fire for almost three hours.
Shields was wounded a second time during the Viet Cong attack, but continued to serve.
At one point, he assisted in carrying a more critically wounded man to safety, and then resumed firing at the enemy for four more hours.
A commander eventually asked for a volunteer to accompany him in an attempt to knock out the enemy machine gun emplacement that was assaulting their position.
Shields volunteered
Shields volunteered for the mission.
The group succeeded in knocking out the gun, but Shields was mortally wounded by hostile fire.
The Navy has declared that Shields’ heroic initiative and great personal valor in the face of intense enemy fire sustain and enhance the finest tradition of the Naval Service.
“He was one man who lived and died the Navy’s examples,” Landcastle said.
This is the 42nd time a Veterans Day has taken place since Shields was laid to rest in Gardiner, and Bennett said she has been here for every one.
“And I will be here next time,” she said smiling.
“I am so grateful that the community comes out to support him too.”
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
Breakout for jump page — there’s art
ABOUT 75 PEOPLE gathered at the Port Townsend American Legion hall that bears Marvin G. Shields’ name on Tuesday.
Legion Commander Joe Carey said the theme of the veterans ceremony at Port Townsend’s American Legion Marvin G. Shields Post 26, 209 Monroe St., was peace.
“Ultimately that is what we are here for,” Carey said.
“We are here for peace, not to make more war or more veterans, but for peace.”
The brief service was a good opportunity to recognize the work of the veterans in the community, he said.
“We honored the veterans, and talked about our work with the Scouts and the homeless shelter,” Carey said.
“We reminded everyone that we are a part of this community, and you know what? It went great.”
Carey talked briefly with some members of the Navy Seabees about improving a display outside the legion hall that honors Shields.
The display was slated for a complete renovation last year, but although most of it has been repainted, improvement are not expected to be completed for another year.
The post hopes to have improvements finished in time for Veterans Day 2009.
