thedrifter
03-06-07, 06:00 AM
Vietnam veteran honored for service
By Ryan Marshall, Times Staff Writer
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett awards a medal to Robert Davidson at a ceremony honoring Veterans at the MG Henry C. Evans Armory in Westminster Monday.
By Ryan Marshall, Times Staff Writer
Rep. Bartlett presents awards, medals for 3 Carroll soldiers
Robert Davidson and his fellow Marines flew into Vietnam on Christmas Day 1964.
Part of the first Marine fighter squadron to go into the country, he didn’t get to take a bath or shower for the first month he was there.
They worked 18-hour days to set up their air base. They got time to sleep, but the heat and humidity made that difficult.
Davidson was a mechanic who worked on jet engines.
During his time in Vietnam, he mostly stayed on the base. Along with his mechanic responsibilities, he performed guard duty and loaded bombs and missiles onto planes.
As the only one on the base with a military driver’s license, he drove a supply truck. He also drove trash to the dump outside the base, where groups of children waited to pick through the soldiers’ garbage.
Even life on the base didn’t protect him from the horrors of war. He can’t even describe some of what he saw.
His mother Isabelle, from her home in Manchester, wrote frequently to Robert and another son stationed in Germany. In his letters back home, Robert never wrote much about what he was doing or seeing, she said.
She thought about him a lot when she watched the news, and she watched Bob Hope specials, hoping to catch a glimpse of him in the crowd.
Because he had served part of his overseas tour in Japan, Davidson left Vietnam in the summer of 1965. He never gave much thought to any credit or awards he might have been entitled to.
Then, during the summer of 2006, he heard some friends talking about battle decorations. His wife started investigating and contacted the office of U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-District 6.
On Monday, Bartlett presented Davidson with the National Defense Service Medal, Expeditionary Medal for Armed Forces in Vietnam, the Navy/U.S. Coast Guard Unit Commendation Ribbon-Navy, Badge Rifle Marksman and the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation.
Congressional offices often help veterans obtain missing medals or documents, said Debbie Burrell, a veteran’s legislative assistant in Bartlett’s office. They correspond with the Congressional Liaison Office at the National Personnel Records Center, which houses all military records since World War II, and the branches of the military to obtain the proper records and awards.
Davidson said he’s not sure where the medals will go in his Manchester home, but he hopes to get a display and said he may hang them on the wall. He appreciates the help of Bartlett’s office in getting the awards.
“I’m most appreciative,” he said.
Bartlett also presented medals to the families of Cleveland Dell and Harry Mattson.
Dell, who lives in Westminster, served in the Army’s Fifth Infantry Division under George Patton during World War II, said his son Vince. Bartlett presented his family with the Silver and Bronze stars, along with five other medals.
John Mattson of Mount Airy accepted several medals for his father, who served in the Army during World War II.
Cleveland Dell and Harry Mattson are both dead.
Reach staff writer Ryan Marshall at 410-857-7865 or rmarshall@lcniofmd.com.
Ellie
By Ryan Marshall, Times Staff Writer
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett awards a medal to Robert Davidson at a ceremony honoring Veterans at the MG Henry C. Evans Armory in Westminster Monday.
By Ryan Marshall, Times Staff Writer
Rep. Bartlett presents awards, medals for 3 Carroll soldiers
Robert Davidson and his fellow Marines flew into Vietnam on Christmas Day 1964.
Part of the first Marine fighter squadron to go into the country, he didn’t get to take a bath or shower for the first month he was there.
They worked 18-hour days to set up their air base. They got time to sleep, but the heat and humidity made that difficult.
Davidson was a mechanic who worked on jet engines.
During his time in Vietnam, he mostly stayed on the base. Along with his mechanic responsibilities, he performed guard duty and loaded bombs and missiles onto planes.
As the only one on the base with a military driver’s license, he drove a supply truck. He also drove trash to the dump outside the base, where groups of children waited to pick through the soldiers’ garbage.
Even life on the base didn’t protect him from the horrors of war. He can’t even describe some of what he saw.
His mother Isabelle, from her home in Manchester, wrote frequently to Robert and another son stationed in Germany. In his letters back home, Robert never wrote much about what he was doing or seeing, she said.
She thought about him a lot when she watched the news, and she watched Bob Hope specials, hoping to catch a glimpse of him in the crowd.
Because he had served part of his overseas tour in Japan, Davidson left Vietnam in the summer of 1965. He never gave much thought to any credit or awards he might have been entitled to.
Then, during the summer of 2006, he heard some friends talking about battle decorations. His wife started investigating and contacted the office of U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-District 6.
On Monday, Bartlett presented Davidson with the National Defense Service Medal, Expeditionary Medal for Armed Forces in Vietnam, the Navy/U.S. Coast Guard Unit Commendation Ribbon-Navy, Badge Rifle Marksman and the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation.
Congressional offices often help veterans obtain missing medals or documents, said Debbie Burrell, a veteran’s legislative assistant in Bartlett’s office. They correspond with the Congressional Liaison Office at the National Personnel Records Center, which houses all military records since World War II, and the branches of the military to obtain the proper records and awards.
Davidson said he’s not sure where the medals will go in his Manchester home, but he hopes to get a display and said he may hang them on the wall. He appreciates the help of Bartlett’s office in getting the awards.
“I’m most appreciative,” he said.
Bartlett also presented medals to the families of Cleveland Dell and Harry Mattson.
Dell, who lives in Westminster, served in the Army’s Fifth Infantry Division under George Patton during World War II, said his son Vince. Bartlett presented his family with the Silver and Bronze stars, along with five other medals.
John Mattson of Mount Airy accepted several medals for his father, who served in the Army during World War II.
Cleveland Dell and Harry Mattson are both dead.
Reach staff writer Ryan Marshall at 410-857-7865 or rmarshall@lcniofmd.com.
Ellie