Elmo M. Haney

St Elmo M. Haney
Nickname(s) "Pop" Haney
Born (1898-04-00)April , 1898
Magazine, Arkansas
Died January 31, 1979(1979-01-31) (aged 80)
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Buried Benton County Memorial Cemetery[1]
Allegiance  United States of America
Service/branch  United States Marine Corps
Years of service 1918–1947
Rank Master Gunnery Sergeant
Unit 1st Marine Division
Battles/wars

World War I World War II

  • Battle of Guadalcanal
  • Battle of Cape Gloucester
  • Battle of Peleliu
Awards Silver Star Medal
Spouse(s) Ethel Taletha Tirey

St Elmo Murray Haney (1898 - 1979) was a Master Gunnery Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps.[2] As a veteran of many early campaigns in the Marine Corps, he was considered the epitome of the "old breed" Marine and a source of inspiration during the tough battles of the Pacific Campaign in World War II.[3] Author Eugene Sledge described Haney as being, "everywhere at once, correcting mistakes and helping out".[4] As one who fought in some of the fiercest fighting of the time, he had the respect of the Marines. In World War I, it was later claimed that he fought in the Battle of Belleau Wood with the 5th Marine Regiment.[2] However, Marine corps muster rolls show that he enlisted on 17 July 1918 and trained at Parris Island, South Carolina and Quantico, Virginia, in preparation for being sent to France. By October 1918, he has been assigned to the 2nd Separate Machine Gun Battalion at Quantico, but the war ended before he reached France. On 16 May 1919, he was transferred to Marine Barracks, Boston and was discharged.[5] He re-enlisted in the Marine Corps on 22 October 1927 at San Diego, California.[6] In 1930, between the wars, he was stationed in Shanghai and played in the outfield for the Fourth Marine Regiment Baseball Team.[7] He also served in Nicaragua, Iceland and in the Amazon.[8]

In World War II, he fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester and Peleliu with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, where he was one of the oldest to fight in the regiment. At the Battle of Cape Gloucester, Haney received a Silver Star for heroic actions against the enemy,[9] carrying ammunition to the front lines during the thickest of the fighting for "Walt's Ridge".[7][10] At Battle of Peleliu, he rallied the Marines as they got bogged down, and kept them moving forward during the fighting.[11]

Haney also served in Nicaragua, China, Tulagi, Florida Island, and New Britain.[7] Haney is featured in several books for his role in World War II and actor Gary Sweet portrayed him in the HBO miniseries The Pacific.[12][13]

Personal life

Haney was born in April 1898 in Magazine, Arkansas to Albert S. and Mary Haney. He was the grandson of Henry Haney, a Confederate veteran. He attended the Chillicothe Business College. He married Ethel Taletha Tirey in 1949. He died January 31, 1979 in Fayetteville, Arkansas and was buried in Benton County Memorial Cemetery, Rogers, Arkansas.

Ethel was born in about 1895 in Whitefield, Oklahoma and died on July 14, 1972 in Bentonville, Arkansas.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Elmo Murray "Pop" Haney". Find a Grave. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  2. 1 2 Miller, Thurman. "Salute: The Real Old Breed– Elmo “Pop” Haney", The History Reader website, 24 May 2013. Retrieved 07 February 2017.
  3. ↑ Sledge, E. B. With the Old Breed, 1981 (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), p. 45.
  4. ↑ Sledge, With the Old Breed, p. 43.
  5. ↑ Ancestry.com. U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958 [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Muster Rolls of the U.S. Marine Corps, 1798-1892. Microfilm Publication T1118, 123 rolls. ARC ID: 922159. Records of the U.S. Marine Corps, Record Group 127; National Archives in Washington, D.C. Roll 0173
  6. ↑ Ancestry.com. U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Muster Rolls of the U.S. Marine Corps, 1798-1892. Microfilm Publication T1118, 123 rolls. ARC ID: 922159. Records of the U.S. Marine Corps, Record Group 127; National Archives in Washington, D.C. Roll 0277
  7. 1 2 3 Arkansas Veteran Still Killing Japs. Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas), Tuesday, October 17, 1944, page: 2
  8. ↑ It was Arkansas Day in the Southwest Pacific. Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas),Saturday, February 19, 1944, Page: 4
  9. ↑ "Valor awards for St. Elmo M. Haney". valor.militarytimes.com. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  10. ↑ Jap Taunt Backfires as Marines Win Battle, The Portsmouth Herald (Potsmouth, New Hampshire) January 19, 1944, page 5, accessed February 15, 2017 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8965265//
  11. ↑ McEnery, Jim and Sloan, Bill. Hell in the Pacific: A Marine Rifleman's Journey From Guadalcanal to Peleliu (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012), p. 243.
  12. ↑ IMDb. "Sgt. Elmo 'Gunny' Haney (Character)"
  13. ↑ HBO Website. The Pacific Cast and Crew, "Sgt. Elmo "Gunny" Haney"
  14. ↑ Mrs. Ethel T. Haney, Northwest Arkansas Times (Fayetteville, Arkansas) July 15, 1972, page 2, accessed February 15, 2017 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8965165/mrs_ethel_t_haney_northwest_arkansas/
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.