Interview with Harvey Barnum — Vietnam Veteran and Medal of Honor Recipient

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As 1965 came to a close, the 1st Viet Cong (VC) Regiment, which had suffered a resounding defeat at the hands of the U.S. Marines during Operation Starlite in August, was back in the picture. In late November, the enemy unit attacked the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) outpost at Hiep Duc, just 25 miles west of Tam Ky. By occupying this key position, the Communists had a clear road to the Nui Loc Son Basin, also called the Que Son Valley, in I Corps’ Quang Tin province. Abundant in farms and heavily populated, the valley was considered an extremely important area, situated as it was between the major South Vietnamese cities of Da Nang and Chu Lai. The monsoon season provided excellent cover to the VC units attempting to occupy that vital region.

On November 22, after heavy fighting between enemy forces and the 2nd ARVN Division, 37th ARVN Ranger Battalion and South Vietnamese Regional Forces, General William C. Westmoreland, head of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), instructed Maj. Gen. Lewis W. Walt, commanding general of the 3rd Marine Division, to ‘conduct search and destroy operations…to drive the VC out.

Walt was justifiably concerned about the rising Communist threat to Que Son, and the burly Marine commander conferred with ARVN Maj. Gen. Nguyen Chanh Thi about the next course of action. The pair concluded that action must be taken to repulse the VC from this rich farming area. As a result, Operation Harvest Moon/ Lien Ket 18 was initiated.

Marine and ARVN units immediately went on the offensive to quell the enemy drive into the Que Son Valley. On December 18, Lt. Col. Leon N. Utter’s 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines (2/7), ran headlong into the 80th VC Battalion. As the Marines trudged through extremely rugged terrain, varying from flooded rice paddies to jungle-covered hills, the enemy hit the rear and flanks of the column.

At the rear of the column was Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines (2/9), which had been attached to Colonel Utter’s battalion for the operation. When both the company commander and his radio operator were killed, the artillery forward observer (FO), 1st Lt. Harvey C. Barnum, Jr., on temporary duty in Vietnam from the Marine Barracks at Pearl Harbor, took command. After hours of intense combat, Barnum and his Marines successfully broke contact and joined the remainder of their unit in the village of Ky Phu. For his heroic actions on that day, Barnum was awarded the Medal of Honor, becoming the fourth Marine to receive our nation’s highest military decoration during the Vietnam conflict.

At the time of his retirement from the Marine Corps in 1989, Colonel Barnum was military secretary to the commandant. Barnum discussed his experiences during two Vietnam tours with Vietnam Magazine contributing editor Al Hemingway.

Vietnam: Why did you decide on the Marine Corps?

Barnum: Two reasons. My cousin was in the Marines during World War II, and my dad enlisted, but the age law was passed and my dad didn’t go, which was a good thing because everyone from his recruit platoon on Parris Island went to Iwo Jima. However, another thing that really turned the tide for me was Military Day during my senior year in high school. Every branch of the service had a representative come to the high school to try and recruit young men. Well, the Air Force recruiter got up to make a pitch, and there were a lot of catcalls. Then the Army and Navy recruiters got the same treatment. A Marine gunnery sergeant was the last one to get up to speak in the auditorium. He said, There isn’t anybody in this room I would want in my Marine Corps. Then he tore into the faculty, accusing them of jawjacking and scratching their butts while all this turmoil was going on and saying, This is embarrassing. He concluded by saying, I’m wasting my time here, and he sat down.

Vietnam: Sounds like a typical Marine Corps gunny to me.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, Historical Figures, Vietnam War

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