Chesty Puller statue

Now that's dedication.

 

Fantastic!

 

My dad got to meet General Puller twice when he was in the Marines, my dad was just a PFC the first time, and it was just before Puller retired. He always visited with the enlisted men because they had a special bond. He met him a second time, after he graduated Quantico while passing near Puller's hometown in Virginia shortly after he was commissioned. It was kind of a tradition to stop by and pay your respects to the General and he is said to have really enjoyed the visits.


I had the privilege of meeting his daughter, Virginia Puller Dabney, in April 2005 when my brother, my oldest son and I drove up to VMI (Virginia Military Institute) to attend Col. Dabney's being awarded the Navy Cross for his actions on Hill 881 during the siege of Khe Sahn. She was a very cordial, attractive, genteel lady. We were staying at the same hotel as many of Dabney's men who had come in from all over the country for the event. They had a big hospitality room and when they found out we were Marines we were invited to join them and they regaled us with stories of Dabney. He was much beloved by his men. He had recently been diagnosed with cancer and was wheelchair bound and on oxygen. He had to wait all those years between being recommended and receiving his award, because the helicopter carrying his recommendation got shot down and crashed. They had a big parade and then had the award ceremony in the Cadet Chapel. Puller had attended VMI, but when they took the rifles from the armory to help arm American troops for WWI he left and enlisted, saying "he was going to follow the guns". Dabney was a 1961 graduate of the Institute. My older son had heard Virginia Puller Dabney speak at the Marine Option NROTC "mess night" when he attended VMI, and was very impressed with her and loved the stories she had to tell of growing up as "Chesty's" daughter. There was speculation that Dabney might have been the bravest man in the Marine Corps when he had the nerve to ask General Puller for his daughter's hand.

I knew Dabney must have been a hell of a man by the way his former men had talked about him, with pride, awe, respect and love. I was proved correct in my opinion when I saw him during the parade, sitting in his wheelchair. When the National Colors passed he struggled to his feet, straightened and stood at attention, his hand over his heart. It was obviously a struggle by the way he kind of collapsed back into his wheelchair. He rose again, and came to attention when the Marine Corps Hymn was played by the band. No one would have thought any less of him if he had remained seated, due to his physical condition, but he wasn't built that way. Anyway, we then went to the awards ceremony. Col. Dabney gave a great speech and gave all the credit for his award to his men, both those that came home and those he left on the hill. They were having a reception after the meeting and he ended his speech by asking the men who had followed him so many years before, to follow him once more "Marines, once more, follow me" they wheeled him out and his men fell in behind him, virtually all of them crying. I was too by this time.


Col. Dabney and Virginia Puller at VMI after getting his Navy Cross.



This picture is of Chesty Puller's, 1st Bn 7th Marines defense of Edson's Ridge on Guadalcanal. The figures in the haze in the background show the position of the main Marine line. The photo is often labeled Japanese dead in front of Marine positions. I have a high resolution copy of this and when examined closely there are a bunch of dead marines intermixed with the Japanese and from the positions of the bodies it is apparent they died in hand to hand combat, so this must be the position of the forward Marine positions that were overrun.

 

My God, that photo. It is horrendous. I really don't know what to say to it. And I am sure there were a million moments just like it never captured on film.