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Gordon D Gayle Biography & Facts

Gordon Donald Gayle (September 13, 1917 – April 21, 2013) was an American officer in the United States Marine Corps with the rank of brigadier general and historian. A veteran of World War II and Korea, he distinguished himself as commanding officer, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines and received Navy Cross, the United States military's second-highest decoration awarded for valor in combat. He later served as chairman, Long Range Study Panel which was tasked with the developing of concepts for the Marine Corps operational, organizational, logistical and Research and Development needs for the 1985 period. The study was a catalyst in forming a coherent Marine Corps vision of its future. Early career Gordon D. Gayle was born on September 13, 1917, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the son of businessman with the oil-field equipment, Maurice Rowe Gayle and his wife Frances Madge. He completed the grammar school in Shreveport, Louisiana, in summer 1930 and subsequently graduated from the Sunset High School in Dallas, Texas in June 1934. Gayle then enrolled the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, but left after one year, when received appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. During his time at the academy, Gayle was active in Reception Committee, Quarterdeck Society, Radio Club or Boat Club and graduated on June 1, 1939, on the outset of the world war II. Following his graduation, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps and ordered to the Basic School at Philadelphia Navy Yard for basic officer training, which he completed in April 1940. Gayle was then ordered to Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, where he served in several company and battalion-level positions including company commander in the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines under Lieutenant Colonel George R. Rowan. He deployed with his unit to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba and took part in a series of training and landing exercises there and at Vieques, Puerto Rico in early 1941. He returned to the mainland with the 5th Marines Regiment, which had been part of the 1st Marine Brigade but during this period became an element of the newly formed 1st Marine Division. The division began training in New River (later named Camp Lejeune), North Carolina in September 1941 and was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in November 1941, several weeks before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. World War II Following the United States entry into World War II, the 1st MarDiv began intensive training and preparation for combat deployment. Gayle was promoted to the rank of captain in May 1942 and left with the division by navy transport the Pacific, en route evading German torpedo attack and then transitting the Panama Canal and continuing to New Zealand, while other elements of the 1st MarDiv left the United States for New Zealand by sea from San Francisco. One month later, in Wellington, the division reloaded its ships for amphibious assault and was then ordered under its commanding officer Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift to Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, in early August 1942. Gayle was appointed operations officer of 1st Battalion, 5th Marines and took part in the initial landing on Guadalcanal on August 7 and capture of the Japanese airfield under construction. The construction was finished by Seabees and Marine engineers and named Henderson Field one day later. Some days later, and after U.S. Navy units had been compelled to withdraw temporarily from the Guadalcanal area, Gayle while on battalion-level reconnaissance outside the Henderson Field perimeter, discovered a powerful working radio that the retreating Japanese had left behind. Gayle received orders to destroy the radio because of the possibility that it was booby-trapped and because of general revulsion, after the notorious Goettge Patrol incident, among many officers for the taking of Japanese souvenirs. Finding no evidence of sabotage and recognizing the potential utility of a powerful radio, Gayle left the radio intact. Following heavy ship losses during the Battle of Savo Island, Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner temporarily withdrew naval forces from the immediate Guadalcanal area, including the transports holding key undelivered Marine supplies and equipment. Until naval units, under the inspirational leadership of Admiral William "Bull" Halsey returned to continue their ultimately successful but heavily contested and heroic support for the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal, the only means of long-range communication available to the hard-pressed Division was the Japanese radio Gayle had identified and safeguarded. Gayle participated in the grueling fighting for control of Guadalcanal which continued throughout the fall and winter of defense of Henderson Field 1942. Along with the rest of the 1st Marine Division Gayle left Guadalcanal when they were relieved by U.S. Army units in December 1942. The division sailed to Australia for rest and refit, in Brisbane and later in Melbourne. Gayle was stationed at Camp Balcombe near the town of Mount Martha, Victoria, where he was appointed 5th Marine Regiment Operations officer under Colonel John T. Selden. He was promoted to the rank of major in April 1943. After few months of training in Australia, Gayle sailed with 5th Marines to the staging area at Milne Bay, New Guinea at the end of September 1943, where he took part in advanced combat training, emphasizing shore-to-shore operations and utilizing terrain closely resembling that on New Britain – the future 1st Marine Division objective. Gayle landed on Cape Gloucester, New Britain, on December 29, 1943, and after week of spent in combat area, he succeeded Lieutenant Colonel Lewis W. Walt as commanding officer of 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines (shorthand designation: "2/5") on January 5, 1944, during intensive combats in Borgen Bay. Gayle led his battalion during the Battle of Talasea at the beginning of March of that year and helped to capture the area. For his service at New Britain, Gayle received the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V". His battalion was then ordered to Pavuvu, Russell Islands in June 1944 for rest and refit, but the island of Pavuvu, which at that point had not been prepared to receive troops, was anything but a paradise. The island was rain-soaked and rat-infested and instead of participating in a gradual rehabilitation-training program, the 5th Marines had to construct bivouac areas from scratch. Soon morale reached a low point, for with all the work, there was little material for rebuilding the mental and physical strength of Gayle's Marines. The food consisted mostly of rations similar to those consumed in New Britain campaign and visits to sick call became more numerous. In the early morning of September 15, 1944, Gayle and his battalion (2/5) sailed for Peleliu, Palau Islands to capture the large Japanese airfield there, which was seen as a threat to General MacArthur's lines of communication fo.... Discover the Gordon D Gayle popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Gordon D Gayle books.