Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Northwest Commanding Officer Capt. Edward Miller, left, and Lt. Emily Wolff laid flowers on the grave of Construction Mechanic Third Class Petty Officer Marvin G. Shields during a Veterans Day ceremony conducted Wednesday morning at the Gardiner Cemetery. Shields is the only Navy Seabee to have received the Medal of Honor. (Zach Jablonski/Peninsula Daily News)

Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Northwest Commanding Officer Capt. Edward Miller, left, and Lt. Emily Wolff laid flowers on the grave of Construction Mechanic Third Class Petty Officer Marvin G. Shields during a Veterans Day ceremony conducted Wednesday morning at the Gardiner Cemetery. Shields is the only Navy Seabee to have received the Medal of Honor. (Zach Jablonski/Peninsula Daily News)

Medal of Honor recipient honored with ceremony

Navy commemoration held in Gardiner

GARDINER — Flowers and a wreath were laid upon the grave of Navy Petty Officer Marvin G. Shields in Gardiner Cemetery in a ceremony that was an abbreviated version of the annual event due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Shields, a construction mechanic third class, is the only Navy Seabee to have received the Medal of Honor.

He was posthumously given the award by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 for his actions near Dong Xoai, Vietnam, on June 9, 1965. He was killed after carrying a wounded soldier to safety and helping to knock out a machine gun emplacement. He was 25.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

About 40 military and community members attended the Veterans Day ceremony honoring Shields, a native of the Port Townsend and Sequim areas.

Federal COVID-19 prevention protocols limited the gathering to fewer than 50 for military personnel.

Before the pandemic, the annual ceremony typically would have drawn more than 100 people.

Shields’ widow, Joan Shields Bennett, appreciated the work the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Northwest members put into the condensed ceremony, including the extra effort to have it a day early this year to comply with the capacity restrictions.

“I’m so pleased they worked it around to be a day early,” she said. “For them to take that effort would be really appreciated by Marvin.”

In the condensed ceremony, a wreath and flowers were placed on Shields’ grave as an account of his actions in Vietnam was given, followed by a reading of “The Watch” and the playing of the bugle call taps.

Shields Bennett will gather with retired Seabees today in honor of Shields and Veterans Day.

“Seabees are truly a family for me,” she said.

Late at night on June 9, 1965, Shields’ camp was awakened by an attack of more than 2,000 Viet Cong. The firefight lasted through the night and for most of the next day. Shields helped run ammunition to U.S. military members engaged in the fight, ensuring they didn’t run out.

Even though he had been wounded, he volunteered to work with Special Forces 2nd Lt. Charles Williams to destroy a Viet Cong machine gun nest that endangered everyone in the Army Special Forces compound.

Shields was shot in both legs and Williams also was wounded in a retaliatory attack. Shields was air-evacuated after the battle, having suffered a third wound, but he died during transfer.

Williams also received the Medal of Honor.

The ceremony at the Gardiner Cemetery honored the sacrifice that Shields made and also those that other veterans have made or are currently making in the line of duty, participants said.

________

Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com

Flowers and a wreath are placed on the grave of Construction Mechanic Third Class Petty Officer Marvin G. Shields during a Veterans Day ceremony conducted Wednesday morning at the Gardiner Cemetery. (Zach Jablonski/Peninsula Daily News)

Flowers and a wreath are placed on the grave of Construction Mechanic Third Class Petty Officer Marvin G. Shields during a Veterans Day ceremony conducted Wednesday morning at the Gardiner Cemetery. (Zach Jablonski/Peninsula Daily News)

More in News

Milan Pohl of Port Angeles points out the features of a greenhouse he built to cover a portion of his plot at the Fifth Street Community Garden in Port Angeles. Pohl said on Friday that the greenhouse and a twin structure on an adjoining bed would be used to grow eggplant, peppers and other heat-loving plants. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Community garden plot

Milan Pohl of Port Angeles points out the features of a greenhouse… Continue reading

x
Nominations open for Community Service awards

Forms due March 25; event scheduled for May 1

Influenza numbers trending down in Clallam, Jefferson counties

Public health officer says it’s not too late for vaccine

NOAA lease in Port Angeles on list of terminations

A lease held by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric… Continue reading

Tyler Leisten.
Leisten gradutes from basic law enforcement academy

Tyler Leisten has graduated from the Washington State Basic… Continue reading

Nicole Merrigan, owner of Strait Up Foam Fun, left, talks with Carol Koenig of Sequim during Thursday’s Clallam County Job Fair at Vern Burton Community Center in Port Angeles. About two dozen prospective employers took part in the event, hosted by the Greater Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Job fair

Nicole Merrigan, owner of Strait Up Foam Fun, left, talks with Carol… Continue reading

Funding from the state Department of Commerce will be matched with private donations to fix the Upper Hoh Road this spring, Gov. Bob Ferguson said Thursday. (Olympic National Park)
State funds to repair Hoh Road

Private donations to match Commerce grant

Grant would help Port of Port Townsend with larger vessels

Two-phase project intended to increase efficiency

Port Angeles City Manager Nathan West gives his annual presentation on the state of the city on Wednesday to the Greater Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce at the Red Lion Hotel. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Port Angeles’ efforts on housing, homelessness top annual address

Manager provides State of the City comments to chamber

Master Gardener Honey Niemann of Port Townsend trims a barberry bush on Wednesday to keep it from infringing on the daffodils blooming at Master Gardener Park at the corner of 10th Street and Sims Way in Port Townsend. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Signs of spring

Master Gardener Honey Niemann of Port Townsend trims a barberry bush on… Continue reading