U.S. Navy Marvin Glenn Shields

1 u.s. navy

1.1 seabees
1.2 battle of dong xoai
1.3 burial
1.4 medal of honor

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,