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Vietnam

After Enlisting...

  • Newlin was transferred to Vietnam in March 1967 upon completing special weapons training and infantry training
  • Newlin fought with 1st Platoon, Company F, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division
  • Ranked as Private First Class, Newlin was tasked with being a Machine Gunner
  • First Newlin went to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina for training.
  • He was then transferred to the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina where he received Infantry training and Special Weapons training
  • He was assigned duty as a Machine Gunner with Company F at Camp Lejeune.
  • Newlin was promoted to Private First Class on January 1, 1967.

Letters from Melvin...

In Vietnam, Newlin partook in several operations;

  • Operation New Castle
  • Operation Mountain Goat
  • Operation Union
  • Operation Union II
  • Operation Calhoun

In letters to his older brothers Melvin often pointed out that the war was much worse than the media often portrayed.

  • "Joe, don't listen to all you hear on TV because people don't give all the facts, Just last month my company nearly got wiped out on Operation Union II." (June 30, 1967).
  • After mentioning that he had been wounded in the arm and leg he wrote "Please don't tell Mom, though,You know how she is about those little things"

KIA...

In memory...

Late July 3rd 1967,

  • Newlin's company moved to Nong Son Mountain.
  • 400 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese army regulars attacked the Marines.
  • Newlin, a Machine Gunner kept firing at the enemies, even after he became injured by gunfire and later a grenade.

Early July 4th 1967,

  • Melvin E. Newlin was hit fatally by enemy fire on the battlefield, in the Quang Nam Province of South Vietnam.

  • Newlin's profound bravery on that night earned him the highest military honor, a Medal of Honor

Newlin's early life...

Official Accounts of the Battle...

"[ Newlin] single-handedly broke up and disorganized the entire enemy assault force, causing them to lose momentum and delaying them long enough for his fellow Marines to organize a defense and hold off their secondary attack."

"Propping himself against his machine gun, he poured a deadly accurate stream of fire into the charging ranks of the Viet Cong, Though repeatedly hit by small-arms fire, he twice repelled enemy attempts to overrun his position." (U.S. government's official account of the battle.)

  • Newlin was born September 27, 1948 in Wellsville, Ohio.
  • He had an alcoholic Father & careless Mother
  • He had 6 brothers, 1 sister
  • Newlin ran away from home and spent his high school years in and out of foster homes

Joining the Marine Corps...

Medal of Honor

  • Newlin volunteered to serve in the Marine Corps on July 18, 1966, one month after he graduated from Wellsville High School.
  • Melvin's abusive family solidified his choice to leave Wellsville and join the United States Marine Corps.

Former president Richard Nixon presented Melvin E. Newlin's Medal of Honor to his Mother and Father.

"His indomitable courage, fortitude, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of almost certain death reflected great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service." (In a speech by Nixon at Newlin's Medal of Honor ceremony."

In addition to the Medal of Honor..

  • In memory of Melvin E. Newlin 5 miles of Ohio State Route 7 were formally dedicated to him.
  • His name is engraved on "The Wall"

Melvin E. Newlin

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