Description: The Making of a Marine by Colonel Doc Smith High Pitch Hum Publishing: 2014; pp 551, illustrated and indexed. Oversize hardcover. Black cloth with bold silver lettering cover. Signed by author. Plus a type letter from the author. VG+ to near fine clean unmarked condition. He was a battalion commander in Vietnam War. Very scarce book. Obituary He entered Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, PA in 1951. During his plebe year his classmates called him "Doc" which has stayed with him throughout his life. He was a member of the Cadet Newspaper Staff, Chapel Vestry, Varsity Baseball and was a member of Anthony Wayne Legion Guard. During his senior year, he was First Sergeant of C Company and was a member of Plebe Detail. After graduation in 1954, he enrolled at The Citadel in Charleston, SC. He majored in Political Science. While there he played Varsity Baseball, was secretary to the Connecticut/New York Citadel Club, member of the '58 Summerall Guards, member of the Honor Committee and was Cadet Captain Fourth Battalion Executive Officer. Following graduation in 1958, he enlisted into the 23rd Officer Candidate Class United States Marine Corps. Commissioned a Second Lieutenant on December 6th, 1958 he would serve his country for 30 years. As an infantry officer, his feet touched the soil of 38 states, 4 continents and 19 foreign countries. He was selected to command two infantry battalions/battalion landing teams, the 1st Battalion 2nd Marines/BLT, 1/2 in 1972 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and the 2nd Battalion 4th Marines (Magnificent Bastards) BLT 2/4 in 1980 at Camp Schwab, Okinawa. During the Vietnam War, 1965-1971 he served on the staff of Commander in Chief, Pacific in the Joint Intelligence Division who engaged in the Air War in North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In 1967-1968, while in Vietnam, he was promoted to Major, and commanded a company in First Shore Party Battalion, 1st Marine Division and later served on the staff 3rd Marine Amphibious Force in Danang, coordinating the Arc Light Program, B-52 strikes, for 1st Corps. His next assignment was to the staff of Commander Amphibious Group One/Commander Task Force 76, as the Assistant Intelligence Officer. During these two years they were involved in six amphibious operations in the Republic of Vietnam. He was Commanding Officer for Recruiting Station Hartford, Connecticut, 1973-1976, during the time of transitioning to the all-volunteer military. In June 1977, he was selected to lead the team of 14 recruiters to install systematic recruiting as the Marine Corps recruiting system nationwide in all six districts and 47 recruiting stations. He went on to serve as Operations Officer and Deputy Director, 12th Marine Corps Recruiting District, Treasure Island, San Francisco where he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. After commanding the 2nd Battalion 4th Marines in Okinawa he was promoted to Colonel and received orders to Headquarters, U. S. Marine Corps, Washington, DC. He served in the recruiting branch as head of the recruiting operations branch and later, as the Deputy Director, Personnel Procurement for which he was awarded his second Meritorious Service Award. His final assignment on active-duty was serving as Commanding Officer of the Naval Science Department, Navy and Marine ROTC, at The Citadel from 1984-1988. . United States Shipping Payment due within 2 Days after auction
Price: 150 USD
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
End Time: 2024-12-13T18:44:41.000Z
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Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Binding: Hardcover
Special Attributes: signed
Topic: Vietnam War (1961-75)
Subject: Military & War
