“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:13
Gulfport, Mississippi. (September 28, 2024): The heroic deeds of a Navy Seabee and his tragic loss were honored this week through a reenactment of the Battle of Dong Zoai which took place in Vietnam in 1965. In this photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class James Hong, Navy Chief Selects reenact the famous battle that took the life of Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Marvin Shields who was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He is the first and only Navy Seabee to be awarded the medal.
The Battle of Dong Zoai was part of the so-called Vietcong Summer and involved an unfinished Army Special Forces Camp that had been overrun by two thousand uniformed Vietcong. Sheilds was assigned to Seabee Team 1104 and deployed to Vietnam in February 1965.
Once the battle began, Sheilds, although wounded by mortar fire, continued to resupply his fellow Americans with ammunition and helped return enemy fire. The Vietcong had launched a massive, close-range attack with flamethrowers, hand grenades and small-arms fire. Wounded a second time, Shields nevertheless assisted carrying a more critically wounded man to safety. After four more hours of non-stop combat, Sheilds was wounded a third time yet still volunteered to help take out a machine gun nest. After conquering the enemy position with a rocket launcher, Sheilds was injured again, shot in both legs, on his way back to safety. He was subsequently airlifted to Saigon.
Sheilds succumbed to his injuries during the evacuation as did fellow Seabee SW2 William C. Hoover from Team 1104. Seven of his Seabee team members were wounded. Shields’ family was presented his Medal of Honor by President Lyndon Johnson at a ceremony attended by his wife, father, mother, daughter, and brother.