Lee Marvin: The Untold Stories of a WWII Scout Sniper

welcome back to vestes of History where we tell of storied lives in this episode we have something very very special we're diving into the fascinating military service of a Hollywood Legend Lee Marvin known for his tough guy roles on screen Marvin's real life military service was just as impressive so let's take a closer look at how Lee Marvin went from a hard Marine to a Hollywood Legend This is the Lee Marvin only a select few got to know [Music] so as always what do we have to tell this story we have Lee's US Marine Corps forest green service coat made of a finely napped KY wool that gave the Garment a soft hand now let's start at the top we see a matched set of eagle glob and anchor Insignia on the lapels moving down over the right breast we see the honorable discharge emblem that allowed this jacket to be worn in public while out of service over the left breast pocket we see the fruit salad this includes the Purple Heart metal the Navy variation of the presidential unit citation with a star and the American area ribbon and the Asiatic Pacific campaign medal with two campaign stars and finally the World War II Victory Medal these ribbons you may notice are larger than their army counterparts these are the Navy variations made by wolf Brown and are 1/2 in wide below are the weapons qualifications for Sharpshooter and rifle and the US Marine Corps weapons qualification denoting that Lee was an expert with the bayonet on both shoulder sleeves is the US Marine Corps private first class rank insignia and the shoulder sleeve insignia for the fourth Marine Division can be seen and in case you're asking how do I know it's genuinely his well if we turn the uniform inside out we can find his Marine Corps issued laundry stamp in both armholes of the jacket El Marvin he also writes his name in the opposite armhole and Incredibly he is the only El Marvin in the muster rolls that we can find but wait there is more the top of Le's p41 utilities made from an olive drab cotton Herring bone twill this is the jacket that would have doubled as both a work and combat uniform his first initial and last name are followed by his Brin core serial number in the collar this is all accompanied by some incredible ephemera from Lee's early life and time in the core this is a once in a-lifetime experience as a young historian and I am absolutely thrilled to share this with you what do we know about Lee Marvin that isn't found on the interwebs yes he's sanging in the musical Paint Your Wagon and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery as a PFC in the Marine Corps but what happened to get him there this short documentary will focus on his early life and wartime experiences that might explain the Lee Marvin we saw on the screen and Pamela Marvin's biography of her late husband entitled Lee a romance published in 1997 she featured excerpts from his World War II journals as well as letters from his fellow Marines we can learn a lot about what made Lee Lee couple with Dwayne Epstein's biography about Lee also titled Lee Marvin Point Blank I use both books as well as my own research to tell this story let's start pulling threads Lee Marvin was born on 19 February 1924 in New York City he grew up in a family of four his father Lamont was an advertising executive and salesman and his mother Courtney was a fashion writer Lee also had an older brother named Robert his childhood was typical for the time but Lee had a rebellious streak and as a student Lee was above average attending ps69 in Queens which still exists today his report card from 1935 yes that is his actual report card shows B's and C's but may have actually had higher grades since the school had the discretion of only entering grades C and below that must have sucked although his spelling was a consistent D presumably this is his dyslexia that he dealt with his entire life Lee also had no habit of ditching and was only absent once and late four times simply a good kid now despite this Lee proved to be a particularly challenging youngster getting into fights genuin not following the rules and you know the usual suspects his parents thought putting him through Sunday school might put the fear of God into this precocious young man and he attended St Agnes Church on 91st Street this didn't work they sent Lee to the manate school a Christian boarding school in paa New York during the late 1930s once expelled Lee went to Peak Skill Military Academy in Upstate New York and in 1941 he attended St Leo College and Preparatory School a Catholic School in St Leo Florida after being expelled from several other schools for bad behavior but not all was lost Lee was physically Adept receiving Awards in swimming and placing first in the Florida track and field for Catholic Boys in Jacksonville Florida in 2 May of 1942 however Lee Marvin's life changed dramatically when World War 2 broke out yesterday December 7th 1941 a date which will live in infamy on 12 August 1942 at age 18 Lee Marvin enlisted in the United States Marine Corps he was immediately sent to end to a 4-week stay at Marine Barracks Paris Island South Carolina this 6'1 and a260 lb grunt became private Lee Marvin 439 673 US Marine Corps Reserve the highlight of this training was shooting at 223 on the rifle range which made him a sharpshooter and qualified him as a 773 Rifle and Co he also qualified as an expert with the bayonet following boot camp Le elected to go to Quarter Master school at New River graduating in late December of 1942 Lee was shipped out to Camp Elliot California as a quartermaster Clerk and was out of that job by July transferred to line infantry and eventually landed in the 24th Marine regiment as it prepared to go overseas in August of 1943 we see him receiving training as a scout sniper in headquarters and service company and he has later transferred to company d Scouts fourth tank Battalion a brand new unit consisting entirely of reservists saved for two officers one of them was Captain Edward kinach JR this unit would later become the venerated fourth Recon Battalion in March of 1944 Lee's baptism by fire would be operation Flintlock the Marshall Islands consisting of quadulan any we talk and the islands of Roy and neur the atol consisted of over 867 reefs spanning over 800 miles these are the battles we cly hear about when we talk about broad stroke World War II history not only did Lee see combat in those places but also in places you have never heard of you see Lee was now a trained scout sniper he and the other members of scout platoon would hit the enemy islands and sandpits in small rubber boats the night before D-Day to snatch a prison proner gather intelligence and do what Marines do best neutralize the enemy Lee was among the first Marines to land on territory held by the Japanese before Pearl Harbor one of these places was Perry Island any we talk on 22 to 23 February 1944 the following are the words of Malcolm n Smith AKA bear TRX Lee Marvin's platoon leader Lee was in his element at Perry Island on an we talk the first afternoon on Perry Island we were given the job of mopping up after the attack and later took over as front line and assault troops we had some night Lee was in a hole next to mine with Corporal a and my Runner named Sutherland we had to hold the line that night and the next day attack along the seaward side of the island which was heavily dug in by the Japanese you may not know this but in the scouts we all went by nicknames Le was boom happy he loved to blow things up and was an expert with dynamite and a composition c a plastic explosive he blew up everything in sight and lots of things out of sight as we progressed he was a great help we were a small platoon 21 men so I got to know your husband well he was a spirited man to say the least in action he was courageous and very effective in key assignments he was a natural-born leader I was indeed fortunate having him as a member of my platoon this is the first time I have written about our actions but I thought you would like to have a word from Marvin's platoon leader about some of his exploits from one who had the greatest respect for him Malcolm n Smith bear tracks during combat in the marshals Lee participated in at least 21 dday Landing ahead of the main Landing Force at night in those rubber boats with the scout sniper platoon it can be assumed that Lee got his belly full during his time in the marshals after the marshals were rented secured the fourth division headed to Maui for a little RNR Lee transferred out of scout platoon to find a new home in item company 24th Marine regiment then on June 15th 1944 Lee landed with item company 24th Marines on cpan this is where Lee would receive his Purple Heart on 18 June 1944 during the assault on Mount typow in the Battle of sipan during which most of his company were casualties he was hit by a Japanese sniper in a letter to his father Lee Marvin had this to say about being wounded dear Pop I am writing you this letter mostly to tell you that I am really all right and that things are not as bad as they seem I was on sipan when I got hit not too bad but bad enough to hamper me if I stayed I was HIIT in my left buttocks just below the belt line you may think it's funny to get hit in the can like that but at the time I was very lucky that that is all I got I was pinned down and could not move an inch and then a sniper started on me his first shot hit my foot and his second just about 3 Ines in front of my nose it was just a matter of time as I knew I would get hit sooner or later if I got up and ran I would not be writing this letter so I just kept down I could see nothing to fire at so there I was bang I felt like someone hit me with a 2x4 the wound starts about a/4 inch from my spine on a slight forward angle where it left the flesh it was a sniper that hit me and he must have been using a flatnose slug as he did not leave two little holes it entered about a half inch where it did and just laid it all open now there is more or less a gash 8 in Long by 3 in wide and about 2 in deep he did not touch the muscles or spine at all jeez now you never seen creeping like I did but he kept on shooting finally I got out of there and I am okay now I'm now on gule Canal and awaiting a transfer South they figure on letting the wound fill in so that will take about four or 5 months they gave me the purple heart and all the trimmings but I still think that it was worth it after over a year of medical treatment in Naval hospitals Marvin was given a medical discharge after the war Lee Marvin returned to civilian life but his military service had a profound impact on him he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and turned to acting as a form of therapy Marvin's Talent as an actor quickly gained recognition and he went on to star in numerous films and TV shows his tough guy persona honed during his military service made him a sought after actor in Hollywood Marvin's career in Hollywood spanned over four decades and he became known for his gritty performances often portraying anti-heroes and tough guys with a non-nonsense attitude he won numerous Awards and his performances including the Academy Award for best actor for his role in cat beloo in 1966 despite his success in Hollywood Lee Marvin never forgot his military service he remained proud of his time in the Marine Corps and often spoke about the impact it had on his life I want to leave you with this Lee Marvin the legend the Marine the man left an indelible mark on the world as an actor and activist and he lived a life big enough for that distinctive voice to ring out 40 years after his death you had the juice kid but not the heart and they both go together thank you for letting me share the story of Lee Marvin as so if you knew it please like share subscribe and consider donating to our patreon to see more great stories like this and as always remember you never know who will tell your story live a storyed life

Channel: Vestiges of History

Views: 397,298

Keywords: Lee Marvin, USMC, Marines, Saipan, Eniwetok, 4th Marine Division, Lee, Marvin, WWII, Hell in the Pacific, Camp Pendelton, lee Marvin actor, lee Marvin military service, lee Marvin cause of death, lee marvin actor, lee Marvin navy cross, navy cross, lee Marvin bio, lee Marvin point blank, lee Marvin paint your wagon, Cat Ballou, Battle of Saipan, Big Red One, Dirty Dozen, Lee Marvin movies, lee Marvin scout sniper, lee Marvin saipan

Id: eOtyhVwA1s0

Length: 13min 43sec (823 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 12 2023