Veterans Day ceremony honors Medal of Honor recipient

GARDINER — A crowd of more than 100 civilians, current service members and retired veterans gathered Monday for the annual honor ceremony for Medal of Honor recipient Navy Petty Officer Marvin G. Shields.

Shields, a construction mechanic third class, was killed at Dong Xoai in Vietnam on June 10, 1965.

Even though he had been wounded, he worked with Special Forces 2nd Lt. Charles Williams to destroy a Viet Cong machine gun nest that endangered everyone in the Army Special Forces compound.

Shields was shot in both legs and Williams was also wounded in a retaliatory attack. Shields was air-evacuated after the battle, and had suffered a third wound, but died during transfer.

Shields was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and is currently the only Seabee to have been given this honor. Williams also received the honor.

The ceremony at the Gardiner Cemetery honored the sacrifice that Shields made and also those that other veterans have made or are currently making in the line of duty.

The event opened with the presentation of the colors by the Capitol Battalion Sea Cadets from Olympia and the national anthem sang by Navy Band Northwest musician Brenton Mitchell.

The keynote speaker was retired Command Master Chief Petty Officer Doug Heiner, who spoke to Shields’ story and how Shields has inspired him, as someone who joined the service approximately 20 years after Shields had died.

“Throughout morning after the battle, while receiving the aid for his wounds, [Shields] was instrumental for keeping up the spirits of his fellow defenders, his comrades, his friends by laughing and telling jokes,” Heiner said. “It wasn’t until later in the afternoon, shortly after he was evacuated by helicopter, that Marvin actually passed away.

“There is more to Marvin Shields than the Medal of Honor citation, his story before and behind the citations, the story that is only remembered by those closest to him.

“Not Marvin Shields the hero, but Marvin Shields the person. The everyday guy from a small town in Washington state, who grew up hunting and fishing this very land. The guy who married his small town girlfriend and created a family together.

“That Marvin Shields humbles me through and through.”

Heiner met Shields’s widow, Joan Shields Bennett, during a trip to visit the gravesite.

“Joan, you have carried Marvin’s seabag for 54 years,” Heiner said. “That seabag is filled with loss, love and hope.”

After the speech, Shields’ Medal of Honor citation was read and retired Senior Chief Todd Bolden and retired Chief Eric Corley laid an arrangement of blue flowers on the top of Shields’ gravestone.

Once the flowers were placed, Navy Band Northwest musician Michael Brehm performed taps and members of the Funeral Honors detail of Naval Base Kitsap performed a rifle salute to Shields.

The annual event was started in the 1990s by the retired Seabees of America, and the Navy took over about five years ago, Bennett said.

“Even after I’m dead I hope it continues,” Bennett said. “Today I think was exceptionally thoughtful and touching.

“[The Seabee members] are family, I love them even if I haven’t met them.”

Bennett talked about how in 2014, someone had stolen the challenge coins that were laid on Shields’ headstone, and that the military soon replaced and expanded the collection.

“I visit often and only leave four here, so if they’re ever stolen again it will only be four,” Bennett said. “The fact there is over a hundred now is remarkable.”

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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com.