Daring soldier was awarded Medal of Honor - Col. Lewis L. Millett 1920-2009 (Army deserter)

Washington Post ^ | 11/18/09 | Adam Bernstein

[Libloather]

Daring soldier was awarded Medal of Honor
By Adam Bernstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Lewis L. Millett, 88, a career Army officer who was briefly and somewhat misleadingly court-martialed for desertion during World War II and went on to receive the Medal of Honor for leading a bayonet charge during the Korean War, died Nov. 14 at a veterans hospital in Loma Linda, Calif. He had congestive heart failure.

Col. Millett, who sported a red handlebar mustache, cut an audacious and unconventional path during his 35 years of military service. He led daring attacks in two wars and was instrumental in starting a reconnaissance commando school to train small units for covert operations in Vietnam.

He also was an Army deserter. He later said he had been so eager to "help fight fascism and Hitler" that he left an Air Corps gunnery school in mid-1941 -- months before the U.S. entry into World War II -- to enlist with the Canadian army and go overseas. He manned an antiaircraft gun during the London blitz before rejoining the U.S. Army, which had by that time declared war and apparently was not being overly meticulous in its background checks.

As an antitank gunner in Tunisia, he earned the Silver Star after he jumped into a burning ammunition-filled halftrack, drove it away from allied soldiers and leapt to safety just before the vehicle exploded. Not long after, he shot down a German Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter that was strafing Allied troops. Col. Millett, who was firing from machine guns mounted on a halftrack, hit the pilot through the windshield.

He had fought his way through Italy, participating in the campaigns at Salerno and Anzio, when his paperwork caught up with him.

[LouD]

"We had acquired some Chinese documents stating that Americans were afraid of hand-to-hand fighting and cold steel," he told Military History. "When I read that, I thought, 'I'll show you, you sons of bitches!' "

Hoooah!

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

You really want to start that?LOL

[End Times Sentinel]

God Bless You, Col. Millett!

[ElectricStrawberry]

Met the guy many times when I was stationed in Hawaii with the Woldfhounds......and while he technically deserted the Army to join in WWII before the U.S. did, calling him a “deserter” is intellectually lazy.

Never met a more stand-up American warrior.

[Ronbo1948]

I was honored to have served under “Bayonet” Millett when he was the Commanding Officer of the U.S. Army Security Agency Training Center & School at Ft. Devens, Massachusetts in 1966 & 1967.

I think of all the units I served in during my 20 year Army career, the USASA regiment at Ft. Devens was the best under the command of Colonel Millet - high morale, good discipline and high standards in the academics of Military Intelligence.

“Good night, sweet prince may flights of angels guide thee to thy rest.”

[Ronbo1948]

Millett was 100% badass to the enemy, but having served under him at Ft. Devens, Massachusetts, I can say that he had a heart of gold for the health and welfare of his troops - did you know he even helped us ASA trainees at Ft. Devens get girlfriends?

Seriously, every Friday night a large bus to various USO dances in central Massachusetts was made available for those on pass. Many soldiers stationed at Ft. Devens while Millett was ASA commander met their future wives at these dances.

[Ronbo1948]

Thanks for the Millett story.

It’s interesting how different people see different things in Millett.

Just before I PCS’d to my first overseas assignment in Peshawar, Pakistan I was assigned to be Millett’s driver for the day on April 19, 1967. I was a PFC at the time and had the crap scared out of me by my chain-of-command and warned that I faced a fate worse than death if I screwed up on this detail.

However, on the drive to and from Boston from Ft. Devens, Massachusetts (Millett was addressing the VFW on this Patriot’s Day) was pleasant and the Colonel and me had a very interesting conversation on the American Revolution, which had been the subject of his VFW speech.

I’ll always remember Millett as a kindly middle aged officer and gentleman who treated his 18 year old driver and escort for the day like a son.

[oneolcop]

One small question: The marines are a branch of the navy aren’t they?

[Constitutions Grandchild]

He looks like a “Highlander” to me. They have always been and always be a force to be reckoned with. It's in the genes. He couldn't deny what he was programmed for, and he is certainly a true hero, as are all who give it all for our safety and survival — whatever branch of service they serve. Hooah and Oorah! I look forward to seeing all my heroes when my watch is over.

[AppyPappy]

I was reading a book on Korea and it said the Chinese were quicker to give up the fight than the North Koreans. The Chinese were better soldiers when a gun was at their back.

The Chinese were experts at using your own captured weapons against you.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

Children! Children! Time out for these impetuous rivalries! Heroes are heroes wherever they may be found. The point is that you can recognize one when you see one.

[dervish]

RIP Col. Millett. What an inspiring life. Men like him made America great.

[Wolverine]

Col. Lewis L. Millett  found Vietnamese speaking Soldiers or Asian-American Soldiers to play the role of Viet Cong aggressors.....

---

Col. Lewis L. Millett established the Ft. Devens Vietnam Village training experience largely because of the death of  SP4 James Thomas Davis, 3d Radio Research Unit, killed in an ambush in Vietnam.

First to die in VN Sp4 James T. Davis, 22 December 1961

 

I'm sticking by this account:

President Johnson later termed Davis "The first Amercian to fall in defense of our freedom in Vietnam." Although the US had been in Vietnam as early as 1954, and soldiers were killed in 1957 and 1959, Davis was the first casualty of what has come to be known as 'The Vietnam War.'

James Thomas Davis

Specialist Four
3RD RADIO RESEARCH UNIT, MAAGV
Army of the United States
01 June 1936 - 22 December 1961
Livingston, Tennessee
Panel 01E Line 004

 

22 December 1961 SP4 James Thomas Davis, 3d Radio Research Unit, killed in an ambush in Vietnam, The Wall: Panel 01E - Row 004

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=SP4%20James%20Thomas%20Davis,%203d%20Radio%20Research%20Unit,%20killed%20in%20an%20ambush%20in%20Vietnam,%20The%20Wall:%20Panel%2001E%20-%20Row%20004%20&hl=en&filter=0&num=50&lr=&cr=&source=ggsearch

Specialist Four James T. Davis served as a 3rd Radio Research Unit advisor to elements of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam(ARVN). In this capacity, Specialist Davis participated in numerous operations in direct support of ARVN tactical forces, thus exposing himself to great danger from Viet Cong (VC) rebels.

On 22 December 1961, his team was required to go to a new position. On the way, the team was ambushed by the VC. The truck in which they were riding hit a road mine, and the men were thrown from the truck. Davis was still able to function and managed to fire several rounds from his M-1 before being killed. From an investigation of the ambush area and an interview with a survivor, it was obvious that Specialist Davis died defending his comrads-in-arms. He was the first Army Security Agency soldier to be killed in the Vietnam War.

President Johnson later termed Davis "The first Amercian to fall in defense of our freedom in Vietnam."

http://www.nasaa-home.org/davis/davis.html

---

Notes from The Virtual Wall

President Johnson was sadly misinformed if he identified SP4 Davis as the first American lost to hostile action in Vietnam. Fifteen servicemen - 6 Air Force, 5 Army, and 4 Navy - had been killed or listed as missing in action by the time SP4 Davis' team was wiped out, and nine others had died of illness or non-hostile injury.

For the record, the first "official" Vietnam loss is Air Force Technical Sergeant Richard B. Fitzgibbon on 08 June 1956; regretably his son, Marine Lance Corporal Richard B. Fitzgibbon 3rd, also appears on the Wall - he was killed in action on 07 Sep 1965 while serving with H&S Company, 1/4 Marines.

The first hostile action losses were two members of an Army advisory team, Major Dale R. Buis of Pender, Nevada, and Master Sergeant Chester M. Ovnand , of Copperas Cove, Texas, who were killed (along with two ARVN security guards) in a VC raid on the team's Bien Hoa headquarters on 08 July 1959.

None of which, of course, detracts in any way from SP4 Davis' service to our country. http://www.virtualwall.org/u-army/armysecagency.htm

---

Lt. Col. Lewis L. Millet...

The Tactical Training Center compound developed and contructed by Lt. Col. Lewis L. Millet, the first TTC commander at Fort Devens, Mass., in the mid-1960s. (File Photo)

http://www.inscom.army.mil/Insight/2009/09%20May/09May2.html

In the mid-1960s, the Army Security Agency, the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command’s predecessor, began to send a steady flow of Soldiers to the Republic of Vietnam. These deploying Soldiers, like those currently deploying to Iraq, faced a “360-degree battlefield,” where the front lines were not clearly defined and support troops found themselves in combat situations. To prepare its Soldiers for this, the ASA Training Center and School at Fort Devens, Mass., established the Tactical Training Course in July 1965.

The TTC’s establishment fell to Lt. Col. Lewis L. Millett, who received the Medal of Honor for leading a bayonet charge during the Korean War. Millett wanted to produce the most realistic training experience possible. He found Vietnamese speaking Soldiers or Asian-American Soldiers to play the role of Viet Cong aggressors. Lacking funding to create what he envisioned, Millett and his training staff ingeniously used available resources, including lumber from razed barracks and wood from his own farm in Maine to build an authentic looking Vietnam village in the Fort Devens training area. Within two years, the TTC would boast two “Vietnamese” villages: one “friendly” and one “hostile.” The former had a Buddhist shrine, rice paddies and sapling fence, while the latter had a tunnel system and spider holes.

The 10-day training cycle was divided into two phases. During the first phase, Soldiers trained on the weapons and equipment of an ASA company that directly supported a combat division. During driver training, they practiced blackout driving as well as ambush drills. Weapons training on the rifle, machine gun, and grenade launcher were culminated with live-firing. More importantly, the Soldiers learned to perform patrolling, establish perimeters and other squad tactics. Throughout the phase, the TTC instructors stressed the six-paragraph code of conduct.

During the second phase of TTC the tactical scenarios became more intense for the students. They received Army-mandated training on the geography, history and politics of Vietnam, the Communist strategy and threat, and the U.S. mission there. This was done in the friendly Vietnamese village of Mot Dong. Between tactical squad exercises and rehearsals, the TTC instructors trained the Soldiers on emergency destruction of equipment and information as well as escape and evasion techniques. On the ninth day of the training, the students prepared for their final exercise.

In the scenario, Student Company was ordered to move from its defensive position to a more secure area. It began in a tactical convoy, but “Viet Cong” guerilla bands ambushed the convoy and destroyed its vehicles with land mines or grenades. Employing the newly trained ambush drills, the students repulsed the final assault, but were forced to continue on foot. Upon approaching the enemy village of Hai Dong, they received orders to sweep the village and its subterranean tunnel complex. The students fought their way into the village and then defended it against a counterattack. At this point, the TTC instructors told the students that they needed to organize into groups of two or three and exfiltrate to friendly lines. If successful, the student was debriefed by the intelligence officer and taken to the TTC administrative area.

Not all students were successful in making their way back to friendly lines, and some were captured by “Viet Cong” patrols. Those students underwent simulated, but surprisingly harsh, interrogation. The simulated capture and interrogation gave the Soldiers an opportunity to practice and apply the Code of Conduct. After 15 to 20 minutes of interrogation, the students were allowed to escape and rejoin their comrades.

The next morning, the students struck their bivouac and cleaned and turned in their weapons.

The TTC was an important addition to the training at the ASA Training Center and School. While most of an ASA Soldier’s training concentrated on the technical skills of the collection and analysis of signals intelligence, the TTC’s training gave basic Soldier skills needed to successfully perform their mission on the battlefield where the combat zone was ill-defined. As one deployed Soldier, reflecting on his TTC experience, wrote, “I really hope that I’ll never have to put such training to use. But, on the other hand, it is always reassuring that I’ve had it in the first place.”

---

He led a 'fun run' challenging anyone to outrun him..."I will shave half of my mustache if anyone can beat me."..one soldier did. Millett cut off half his mustache for six months!

 

As I knew him...in 1967.

Citation

 

Capt. Millett, Company E, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action. While personally leading his company in an attack against a strongly held position he noted that the 1st Platoon was pinned down by small-arms, automatic, and antitank fire. Capt. Millett ordered the 3d Platoon forward, placed himself at the head of the 2 platoons, and, with fixed bayonet, led the assault up the fire-swept hill. In the fierce charge Capt. Millett bayoneted 2 enemy soldiers and boldly continued on, throwing grenades, clubbing and bayoneting the enemy, while urging his men forward by shouting encouragement. Despite vicious opposing fire, the whirlwind hand-to-hand assault carried to the crest of the hill. His dauntless leadership and personal courage so inspired his men that they stormed into the hostile position and used their bayonets with such lethal effect that the enemy fled in wild disorder. During this fierce onslaught Capt. Millett was wounded by grenade fragments but refused evacuation until the objective was taken and firmly secured. The superb leadership, conspicuous courage, and consummate devotion to duty demonstrated by Capt. Millett were directly responsible for the successful accomplishment of a hazardous mission and reflect the highest credit on himself and the heroic traditions of the military service.

[Osage Orange]

I’d guess it wasn’t a copperhead..but something that looked like one.

[wysiwyg]

Now, there was a real American hero. RIP Col. Millett.

[kevinm13]

RIP Col. Millett. Thank you for your service to our country. A true hero.

[Hot Tabasco]

"We had acquired some Chinese documents stating that Americans were afraid of hand-to-hand fighting and cold steel," he told Military History. "When I read that, I thought, 'I'll show you, you sons of bitches!'

Now that is funny!

I can just picture this guy standing at the N.Korean border yelling across to a N. Korean commander: "I dare you to dare me!!"

[afraidfortherepublic]

During this fierce onslaught Capt. Millett was wounded by grenade fragments but refused evacuation until the objective was taken and firmly secured.

Unlike John Eff Kerry who had his skin pricked by a grain of rice when the barrel was hit by shrapnel and who immediately wrote himself up for a purple heart for a wound that was treated with a band aid. I still want to know how J EFF Kerry was able to drag a personal photographer around VN to record his 6 months of "heroism"?

R.I.P. Col. Millett.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Thanks for posting this fascinating story.

[dcwusmc]

We are, indeed, a department of the Navy... the MEN’S Department. Any other questions I can answer for you???