Category Archives: hero

Mary Bonnin Closes her Dive Locker

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EMCM/MDV (Ret) Mary J. Bonnin has passed in an accident on dry land, near her home in Panama City, at age 63.

Wisconsin-born Mary joined the Navy in 1976, finished “A” school to become an Electrician’s Mate (EM), and became one of the first women (following Donna Tobias in 1975) to complete Navy Second Class Dive School in Little Creek in 1977 (with a 200-pound dive rig), graduating at the top of her class, the Honorman position.

After service on a dry dock, in 1982, she completed First Class diving school in Panama City, becoming the first enlisted female diver certified in both air and gas diving (with a 300-pound hard hat rig).

Finishing tours with USS Samuel Gompers (AD-37) working on ships husbandry, she became an instructor training at the Second Class Dive School at NAB Coronado for three years, then shipped out as Master Diver on the salvage ship USS Grasp (ARS-51), having made MD in 1990 by unanimous decision of the Board.

Keep in mind that of the 7,750 dive-certified personnel in the Navy, only about 1,300 are rated as Navy Divers (ND) and only about 75 of those are Master Divers.

She was the Navy’s only female MD until 2024!

She trained for another three years at the First Class school at Panama City, finished her uniformed career at the Naval Safety Center in Norfolk, Virginia as a Master Chief (E-9) Master Diver, retiring in 1996.

During her six years as a Navy diving instructor, Bonnin trained more than 1,000 divers, shaping that very small community for decades.

Mary Bonnin was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame in 2000.

She had three sons, and reportedly kept diving for practice torpedoes while eight months pregnant with her first.

She hosted a great sub-Reddit and made a great podcast appearance on Bottom Dwellers a few years back.

And so we remember,

In Waters Deep– Eileen Mahoney 
In ocean wastes no poppies blow,
No crosses stand in ordered row,
There young hearts sleep… beneath the wave…
The spirited, the good, the brave,
But stars a constant vigil keep,
For them who lie beneath the deep.
‘Tis true you cannot kneel in prayer
On certain spot and think. “He’s there.”
But you can to the ocean go…
See whitecaps marching row on row;
Know one for him will always ride…
In and out… with every tide.
And when your span of life is passed,
He’ll meet you at the “Captain’s Mast.”
And they who mourn on distant shore
For sailors who’ll come home no more,
Can dry their tears and pray for these
Who rest beneath the heaving seas…
For stars that shine and winds that blow
And whitecaps marching row on row.
And they can never lonely be
For when they lived… they chose the sea.

Yankees Across the ETO, 1944-45

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And in a follow-up to yesterday’s post on the ‘Minutemen’ of the old 328th, here is a second piece from the TEC4 William Faucett collection: the Grapevine unit newspaper of the 26th (Yankee) Infantry Division from October 1945, which details the outfit’s march from Utah Beach to Czechoslovakia and Austria. The 328th was one of the 26th’s three infantry regiments, along with the 101st and 104th, all of which are touched on.

Fresh off the scanner!

These are large images, so be patient.

Remembering the ‘Minutemen’ of the old 328th

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The U.S. 328th Infantry Regiment was a war baby.

Initially stood up at Camp (now Fort) Gordon on 25 August 1917, it made it “Over There” as part of the 82nd (All American) Infantry Division, back when they were “legs” and fought in the Lorraine, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne offensives. One of their members you may have heard of was one Sgt. Alvin York.

Reformed as a USAR unit in the 1920s, it was carved away from the 82nd in 1943 when the Army switched from four-regiment “square” divisions to three-regiment “triangular” divisions. This saw the 328th ordered into active federal service on 12 February 1943, and shifted to the forming 26th (Yankee) Infantry Division in preparation for deployment to Europe.

That brings us to our tale here today.

A good family friend is the septuagenarian daughter of the late William Earl Faucett of Warrior, Alabama, who served in the 328th for the duration of WWII, ending his enlistment in 1946 as a TEC4.

Among TEC4 Faucett’s war chest was this great booklet, compiled by Sgt Jermoen Theise and printed by Verlagsdruckerei Weis (Weis Publishing House) in Austria in early 1946, before the 328th came home. The unit was disbanded in July 1946, some 80 years ago this month.

I scanned it in preparation for sending the scans to the 26th Infantry Museum and the CMH, but thought you guys would also appreciate it.

You can thank TEC4 Faucett for keeping it safe for decades and his daughter for continuing to do so, in his honor.

 

 

The Forgotten Coast Guard Paras of WWII

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Sure, everyone knows about at least two of the five U.S. Army Airborne Divisions (11th, 13th, 17th, 82nd, and 101st) that stood up in World War II, along with several separate parachute infantry regiments and battalions (like the stand-alone segregated 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion).

Plus there were the three short-lived battalions of “Para-Marines” in the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment, and the Navy Parachute School (founded in 1924 no less!) at the NAS Lakehurst, which schooled thousands of riggers and both blimp and aircraft crews in the art.

Add to that the covert secret squirrel types of the OSS and their off-books school at Area A-2 in Virginia’s Prince William Forest Park, training to drop into occupied Europe and Asia.

But did you know the Coast Guard also stood up a specialist airborne unit during the war? No, we aren’t talking about aircrew training to “hit the silk”; we are speaking of the USCG’s Para-Rescues.

I can’t find a ton of information on the subject, but the background is that at least a few dozen Coasties underwent parachute and survival training in the U.S. Forest Service’s smokejumper program (which started in 1939) to be dropped into the harsh Alaskan wilderness for extreme search-and-rescue missions.

As any WWII buff knows, the Alaskan theatre went from being a backwater in June 1942 to being an active frontline, and the military buildup in the territory saw aircraft go missing almost every day. For instance, in the Aleutian campaign alone, the USAAF lost 225 aircraft, with only 1:6 of those in combat.

The National Archives and WWII Museum have some great images to help color the tale. All official captions:

Coast Guardsman M. L. Nelson, parachute rigger third class, Canton, Illinois, is one of this group of hardy, aerial trained to leap into the Alaskan wilderness to ‘bring-.” No date WWII Museum 2015.063.081

USCG Grumman JRF Goose. Original caption: (July 1945) The search is on — A twin-motored Coast Guard plane skims the rugged, ice-crusted mountains of Alaska in an effort to spot wreckage of a missing aircraft. Aboard the Coast Guard plane is a para-rescue squad that will drop into the desolate area when the survivors are sighted to administer first aid and guide the victims to safety. The para-rescuers are thoroughly familiar with the northern country and are equipped and trained to live for days in the icy wilderness. USCG Image 26-G-4397. National Archives Identifier 205592335

July 1945. Original caption: Men Against the Icy Wilderness — After jumping from a Coast Guard plane, these Coast Guard para-rescuers pit their hard-won experience of the north against a maze of snow, woods, and mountains as they search for plane-crash victims in a bleak section of Alaska. Laden with enough supplies to last for many days, the husky para-rescuers trudge through heavy snow banks to the spot where they located the wreckage while still in the plane. After administering first aid to survivors, the Coast Guardsmen will tackle the giant job of moving them to safety. USCG Image 26-G-4398. National Archives Identifier 205592344

July 1945. Original caption: Mercy Mission — This is how a fully equipped Coast Guard para-rescuer looks as he gets set to leap from a Coast Guard plane to carry aid to plane-crash or other victims swallowed by Alaska’s rugged expanse of mountains, timber and ice. Outfitted and trained to master the wilderness for days, husky para-rescuers provide food and medical care for survivors and move them to safety. USCG Image 26-G-4396. National Archives Identifier 205592341

July 1945. Original caption: Mountain-top Vigil — Search for plane-crash victims carries a Coast Guard para-rescuers to a vantage point atop a mountain towering over a snow-and wood-covered valley. Other mountain peaks punch through a thick sheet of fog, which teams with snow, ice, and woods in hindering the searching party. Dropped into the Alaska wilderness from a Coast Guard plane, the para-rescuer carries a heavy pack of emergency rations and other equipment to help care for survivors until they can be moved to safety. USCG Image 26-G-4399. National Archives Identifier 205592347

July 1945. Original caption: “That’s the Spot” — as a Coast Guard rescue plane hovers over snow-covered Alaska woodland, Coast Guard Paratrooper Bruce Johnstone (left), of Ketchikan, Alaska, points out the spot where he believes a missing plane has crashed to Lt. Comdr. Joseph F. McCue (center), of Washington, D.C., and Ensign James P. Gwynn, of Red Bank, N.H., Coast Guard pilots. Johnstone is a member of a para-rescue squad which will bail out to care for crash victims and move them to safety. The rugged para-rescuers are trained and equipped to exist for days in the bleak expanse of ice, snow, and woods. USCG Image 26-G-4393. National Archives Identifier 205592338

While Cold War experiments towards fielding “fully-qualified para-scuba rescue men” occurred (keep in mind the service sent crews to fly Air Force Jolly Greens on C-SAR missions in Vietnam), the concept was never put into use by the USCG.

Today, no Coast Guard units are actively trained or equipped for tactical parachute insertion, which is probably a shame. Still, Coast Guard Aviation Survival Technicians (Rescue Swimmers) have to prove themselves in other ways that would make some airborne guys weak in the knees.

Raise one for Flora-bama Pat

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If you spent more than 30 seconds involved in Naval Aviation in and around Pensacola for the past 40 years, you know of the Flora-bama, a (formerly) tiny (formerly) biker bar on the Florida/Alabama Gulf Coast line between Orange Beach and Perdido Key. 

Purchased by Pat McClellan in 1984, the hole-in-the-wall honky tonk bar had a transformation and became nearly infamous for its events such as the “Inter-State Mullet Toss” and New Year’s “Polar Bear Dip,” while, alternating with McGuires in P-Cola proper, becoming a Mecca for young naval aviators, who had a habit of returning when they came back as an instructor, then circling back around once after they retired.

Pat has a lot to do with that.

A University of Minnesota (NROTC ’71) alum, Pat went through the Navy Flight Program and ended up spending four years on the Blue Ghost, Pensacola’s own USS Lexington (AVT-16), as PAO back once upon a time when studs pulled their first traps on T-2C Buckeyes.

Quick with a joke and a little rough around the edges, my favorite observation of ol Pat was sitting in the dining room at the Flora-bama years ago, back before the big expansion, and watching him handle a complaint from a very fired-up tourist lady, who had pressing concerns about every single thing in the bar.

After listening patiently to her for about five solid minutes, Pat sat back and concluded.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think you ate here,” he told her confidently, “because we don’t serve bitches,” and walked away.

Pour one out for Pat, who just picked up his helmet bag for the last time and went to a Tailhook party somewhere where the visibility is unlimited, and, of course, the bar is open. If they don’t already know how to make bushwhackers, I’m sure Pat is already on that.

Pour one out for Mr. Reilly

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Unless you are under a rock, you have no doubt heard of the passing of Irish-born Kiwi actor Sir Nigel John Dermot “Sam” Neill.

While everyone else is talking Jurassic Park, we, of course, remember Mr. Neill as the fictional though composite Australian commando Sergeant Dan Costello in Attack Force Z (his first movie) and as the very real Sidney George Reilly in the BBC’s Reilly, Ace of Spies, before moving on to Capt. Vasily Borodin in The Hunt for Red October.

Even as a lad, the extensive use on-screen of a suppressed M3 Grease Gun was nothing short of magic, while Reilly was even more Bond than Bond.

While Mr. Neill never served in the military, his pop was a Sandhurst-minted career officer in the Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria’s) for over 20 years, including WWII, and the actor was born near and grew up in the regimental depot in Gough Barracks, Armagh.

In 2013, he purchased a Bannockburn vineyard and renamed it ‘‘The Fusilier” in honor of his father and the regiment itself, which had been amalgamated out of existence in 1968.

So, be it a New Zealand pinot or a nice Irish whisky, raise one to Sam, lads.

Here’s hoping he found his “round American woman, rabbits, pickup truck, and recreational vehicle.”

George M. Neal, Arriving

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The U.S. Navy christened the future Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS George M. Neal (DDG 131) during a ceremony at Ingalls in Pascagoula on Saturday, after launching back in April.

She is the first warship named for Ohio-born Aviation Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class George M. Neal, who was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism during a search-and-rescue mission over North Korea.

While serving in a detachment of Helicopter Utility Squadron One (HU-1) deployed aboard the Australian carrier HMAS Sydney in 1951, Neal volunteered for a perilous mission deep in enemy territory to rescue a downed aviator. After their helicopter crashed under heavy enemy fire, he aided his fellow crew members in evading capture for nine days, enduring subsequent imprisonment as a POW before his release.

Her sponsor was AMM3 Neal’s daughter, Kelley Neal Gray, who saw the ship for the first time this weekend. The elder Neal passed in 2016 at age 86 and is interred at Arlington (Section 76, Grave 1082), as he should be.

The fourth Flight III Burke and, amazingly, the 62nd hull of her class (36 of them delivered by Ingalls already), Neal is expected to be commissioned in 2027 after fitting out, trials, and delivery.

Ingalls has delivered two FIIIs already: USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) and Ted Stevens (DDG 128).

Flight IIIs currently under construction in Pascagoula include Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), George M. Neal (DDG 131), Sam Nunn (DDG 133), Thad Cochran (DDG 135), and John F. Lehman (DDG 137). Ships in pre-planning include Telesforo Trinidad (DDG 139), Ernest E. Evans (DDG 141), Charles French (DDG 142), Richard J. Danzig (DDG 143), Intrepid (DDG 145), Robert Kerrey (DDG 146), and Ray Mabus (DDG 147).

By the way, looking at the list above, I would like to stress again that destroyers should only be named after naval heroes, not politicians or previous ships not named after heroes.

Flight III Burkes were ordered to fill the AAW Commander gap in carrier strike groups with the block retirement of the Tico-class CGs. As such, they will be the most advanced air defense escorts in the world and the first to field the new AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) and the Aegis Baseline 10 Combat System.

The Whisper of, ‘Remember’

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Remember your friends, relatives, and those who gave their last full measure today, gents. It’s not about saving 25 percent on bedding.

Official caption: “USS Saratoga (CV-3), 5 November 1943, during the raid on Rabaul, New Britain. The gunner in this Navy bomber was killed by a Japanese 20mm shell from a Japanese “Zero” [Mitsubishi A6M2] during the raid from Rabaul. Upon the plane’s return to the carrier, the dead gunner’s finger was still clasped on the trigger of his 50 cal. machine gun. Saratoga also participated in the second Navy raid on Rabaul on November 11, 1943, and saw action in the bloody taking of Tarawa.”

Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-44094

No more posts today.

A Dog’s Life: Parachute Jumps & Sinking Subs

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One well-traveled Boston Terrier, YN1 Spar, in USCG service, circa 1944.
Original period caption:
Spar, a two-year-old Boston Bull pooch, was born for the sea. She shipped out as a wee pup and has served the Coast Guard well as mascot on the Coast Guard Combat Cutter Spencer at the time is sank a German sub in battle on the North Atlantic. An adventurer who likes action at sea and in waterfront beverage emporiums, Spar once bailed out of a crippled airplane over Newfoundland in the arms of her master, Coast Guard Coxswain Harold L. Mottard, of Boston, Mass. Here, Spar wears her dress blues, complete with first-class yeoman rating, campaign ribbons (earned), and wings for the plane jump. She’s going ashore between voyages.

National Archives Identifier 205583224, Local Identifier 26-G-08-22-44(1)

Of note, the 327-foot Treasury (Hamilton) class cutter Spencer (WPG-36) had a very active WWII career, including the bona fide and well-documented sinking of the German Type IXC submarine U-175 (KrvKpt. Heinrich Bruns) while on Convoy HX-233 in 1943.

26-G-1517: Sinking of German submarine U-175, April 1943. The submarine was sunk off south-west of Ireland by USCGC Spencer (WPG-36) on April 17, 1943. Official Caption: “COAST GUARD CUTTER SINKS SUB: Coast Guardsmen on the deck of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter USCGC SPENCER (WPG-36) watch the explosion of a depth charge which blasted a Nazi U-Boat’s hope of breaking into the center of a large convoy. The depth charge tossed from the 327-foot cutter blew the submarine to the surface, where it was engaged by Coast Guardsmen. Ships of the convoy may be seen in the background.” Date: 17 April 1943. Official U.S. Coast Guard Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. (2017/09/05).

All in all, Spencer had a 43 year career, only retiring in 1980, likely the last Ameircan maritime vessel in service with a U-boat kill still stenciled on her bridge wings.
Spar earned those stripes.

Train Wreckers at Work

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Some 75 years ago today.

Official caption: “Commandoes of the 41st Royal British Marines plant demolition charges along railroad tracks of enemy supply line, which they demolished during a commando raid, 8 miles south of Songjin, Korea. 10 April 1951.”

NARA FILE #: 080-G-428242

If you are curious as to why the RMs of 41 (Independent) Commando are equipped with U.S. arms (the M1 Garands slung), its because the scratch unit was assembled from 219 men sent to Japan in civilian clothes in September 1950, then later married up with their green berets, battle dress, and boots, but had to rely on winter uniforms, weapons, and kit drawn from American stocks.

The above raid, which “involved transporting quantities of limpet mines and explosives ashore in rubber dinghies through the surf and currents” from the submarine USS Perch (ASSP-313), was highly successful in disrupting enemy rail lines and soon gave rise to the nickname the Royal Marines proudly adopted as a trademark of their mission in Korea, “the train wreckers.”

British Commando Unit on Deck of the USS Perch, at Japan, en route to Korea, 1 November 1950. NARA 80-G-421629

The RMs lost 31 very brave men in Korea, with 17 captured as POWs.

For more on the operation of 41 Cdo, check out “Train Wreckers and Ghost Killers,” by Leo J. Daugherty III (free PDF).

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