Biography Marvin Glenn Shields

1 biography

1.1 u.s. navy

1.1.1 seabees
1.1.2 battle of dong xoai
1.1.3 burial
1.1.4 medal of honor

biography

marvin g. shields born december 30, 1939, in port townsend, washington. lived near townsend on discovery bay in gardiner, washington. graduated port townsend high school in 1958 , had moved hyder, alaska, worked @ mineral basin mining company, gold mining project started port townsend company.

u.s. navy
seabees

he joined navy on january 8, 1962 navy seabee. assigned naval air station @ glynco, georgia apprenticeship training in may completed in may 1963. in september, assigned take construction mechanic training @ naval construction training center @ port hueneme, california completed month. afterwards, assigned company a, naval mobile construction battalion 11 (nmcb-11). on november 18, deployed okinawa , assigned there until september 1964. on november 1, assigned seabee team 1104, naval construction battalion 11, , completed seabee team training @ port hueneme on january 22, 1965. seabee team consisted of 9 seabees including 1 officer.

shields , seabee team 1104 deployed saigon, republic of vietnam arriving on february 1, 1965. on march 28, seabee team 1104 assigned construct u.s. army special forces camp @ ben soi, completing construction work on june 3. seabee team 1104 next assigned newly established army special forces camp @ dong xoai 55 miles northwest of saigon arriving on june 4, assist in repair , construction of compound included adjacent compound district headquarters building. 11-man army special forces ( green berets ) team ( team 342) in charge of northern compound of green berets, seabees, , 200 montagnards. adjacent compound occupied on 200 south vietnamese army soldiers.

battle of dong xoai

on night of june 9, 1965, unfinished army special forces camp @ dong xoai mortared , attacked 272nd vietcong regiment (estimated on 2,000 uniformed vietcong), , special forces compound captured next morning. after being wounded mortar fire, shields fought special forces soldiers against enemy carrying needed ammunition firing line positions. although wounded again shrapnel , shot in jaw on june 10, helped soldier , seabee carry badly wounded special forces captain in charge of camp safer position in compound. after 4 more hours of fighting, , weakened, shields volunteered special forces second lieutenant charles q. williams acting commander since special forces commander 1 of first badly wounded in battle, destroy vietcong machine gun outside perimeter threatening kill in adjacent district headquarters building under lieutenant s command , occupants holding off vietcong attackers sides. lieutenant armed 3.5 rocket launcher loaded shields, destroyed machine gun, , on way building williams wounded 4th time , shields third time, shot in both legs. shields air-evacuated afterwards dong xoai 5 other seabees direction of lieutenant saigon on june 10 , died during evacuation.

two seabees of team 1104, shields , swf2 william c. hoover lost lives , 7 of seabee team wounded in first 2 days of battle of dong xoai (june 9–13). 3 army special forces soldiers killed, plus several members of other american military units , many members of south vietnamese military units partook in battle killed , wounded.

burial

shields buried marine corps honor guard @ gardiner cemetery, gardiner, washington on june 19, 1965. name listed on vietnam veterans memorial on panel 02e, row 007.

medal of honor

shields posthumously presented medal of honor @ ceremony @ white house on september 13, 1966. wife received award president lyndon b. johnson in presence of father, mother, daughter, , brother. special forces lieutenant williams present during ceremony , had himself received medal of honor on july 5, 1966, heroic actions during 14-hour siege of special forces camp @ dong xoai. twenty of seabees , special forces soldiers awarded actions @ dong xoai.

shields other military decorations , awards include: purple heart medal 2 gold stars, navy unit commendation, navy conduct medal, national defense service medal, vietnam service medal 2 campaign stars, rvn gallantry cross palm, rvn military merit medal, rvn gallantry cross unit citation palm , frame, rvn civil actions unit citation palm , frame, , rvn campaign medal 1960- device,