CHAPTER 3

ARCHIVE INDEX

Service and Civilian resume. Retired USMC 1960 as LTCOL. Retired civilian employment 1982.

1942: Jan: As company commander, "A" Company, Quantico, VA., found out that the Marine Corps had moved all of its best men to form the First Marine Division. March: Promoted to First Lt. May: Promoted to Captain. The huge surge of volunteers had settled down and the quality of enlistees was deteriorating. August: Ordered to Marine Barracks, New River, N.C., September: assumed duty as company commander, HQ., Company, School bn., New River Training Center, Fleet Marine Force (Administrative Command of over 1,200 officers and men). Received the first contingent of women marines for duty with cooks and bakers school. Several letters requesting combat duty were placed on file by higher HQ.

Remembrances of USNA: Enlisted in the Navy for a year, followed by attendance at the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Norfolk, Va., and entered the Academy in 1936. "Had little patience with classmates that cried about life at the Academy...My four years at the USNA were the best years of my life..." Refused to accept any type of physical hazing from upper classmen.

Large, bulky, brown official file labeled "Personal File of Paul Stanton Treitel, USMC." a. contains routine orders, TDY, travel claims, etc. from 1940 to 1956. b. Pocket contains, among other documents, a ribbon copy of Treitel's comments on " A Marine Corps History" mss entitled "Saipan" and photocopies of 1944 msgs regarding operations.(Note: Treitel's comments on the mss are a good source for additional study of the landing.) Small, manila folder labeled, "TREITEL," contains: a. orders, TDY, travel, etc. Navy Dept letter-sized manila envelope contains papers on leave, TDY, travel from 1954-55. Letter-sized folder labeled, "Major Treitel" containing a. some ribbon copies from 1943 and 1944 ltrs re landing operations (these are duplicated in other files in this collection) b. various and misc. pprs from 1949-50.

On 15 May 1943, Mark Varland was involved in the sinking of a German sub (U182) while on board the MACKENZIE (DD 614)

Letter describes a conversation which took place in 1950 between the SecNav and Varland in which the SecNav stated that promotion exams were silly during wartime. Two weeks later, the exams were abolished. Varland would like to think that he took part in the decision making.

Service and Civilian resume. Retired after surgery and illness, 1942. Worked for Sperry Gyroscope Co., North American Aviation (Rockwell), and TRW. Retired 1985. Personal info.

Entered USNA via principal congressional appointment, Illinois. Was attracted to Annapolis or West Point throughout high school for it s excellent education at no cost. In the mid 1930s, the Academies had more allure than the best Midwest or Ivy League universities. Became more interested in the Navy as a career.

Remembrances: A lot of hard work to stand well in my class and excel in one sport. The payoff in graduating and receiving a commission was the greatest satisfaction. For the most part, was impressed with the capabilities and leadership of some of the instructors and administrators. However, the Academy at the time was not quite at the standards being achieved at the better engineering schools.

Lots of good times. Life at the Academy was fun, the cruises were outstanding and travel with the team and to football games was a great experience for a "hick from the prairies." Probably the most cherished remembrances are the friendships with most of my classmates and some of the upper classmen. I believe that the stimulus from my peers and from those ahead provided as much inspiration and motivation as any other relationship at the Academy.

Listing and description of service and civilian positions. Retired as CDR, 1960. Retired 1981.

In this letter to Mr. Ted Hill and Classmates of the Class of '40 Archives, Mr. Vaughan withdrew from active participation in the Archive Project due to emphysema and impaired vision. Mr. Vaughan expressed his continuing desire to contribute to the financial well being of the Archive.

ltr. Harvey Vogel to Love, 12 Dec 19891. Vogel's letter mostly concerns the Battle of Leyte Gulf and events on the evening of 24 October 1944, and his efforts to unravel the truth as to exactly what transpired. He lists his differences with S. E. Morison's version of the battle and the traffic between the carrier INDEPENDENCE and the 3rd Fleet Flag Plot. (Note: This is important material for research on the Battle of Leyte Gulf. My Notes on conversations with Vogel are in the Archive.)

Attached is an account of Vogel's service in the carrier YORKTOWN which was in Casco Bay at the time the Japanese attacked at Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941. The carrier left the East Coast, transited the Panama Canal, and steamed for San Diego at the end of the year.

Vogel's listing of his career assignments. He served in carriers during the war as a communications officer, and mostly in AAW posts in the late 1950s. From 1958 to 1960 he was an analyst for Communications Plans and Programs Branch (J-6) of the JCS, and he worked for the DCNO for R and D from 1960 to 1963. Following retirement, he worked for CNA for a year, then went to work for Booz-Allen Applied Research and a project engineer and, later, as a consultant.

Attached to ltr, Hanley to Vogel, 15 Mar 19892. Attached to photocopy of Write-up in FOUR SCORE AND TWENTY MORE.

Vogel was Communications Officer of the carrier INDEPENDENCE during the Battle for Leyte Gulf. On the night of 24 October 1944, he was personally monitoring the flow of traffic out of the carrier's air plot to Third Fleet flag plot. His recollections do not comport with Morison's account of the battle. He believes that, after Halsey went to bed, the Third Fleet Flag Plot watcher should have awakened him. He believes that this officer "buggered up his record to hide the fact."

Vogel has been in contact with Allard at the Naval Historical Center, but cannot seem to get the record straight. (Note: CDR Vogel and I have discussed this in telcons. My Notes on these interviews are in his file. This is a good source for research on the confusion over orders during the Battle for Leyte Gulf.)

Vogel also briefly recounts his earlier experiences in the carrier YORKTOWN, mentions that he has a sea story about Admiral King, and ends with his command of the oceanographic survey ship REHOBOTH, which measured sights for the placement of the SOSUS system hydrophones on the East Coast in the 1950s.

Christmas card with Note pertaining to Battle of Leyte Gulf. Vogel stated that, "as I hinted rather broadly in my last letter I believe that it is almost a foregone conclusion that the document on file at the Naval Historical Center is not the same document used by Morison."(Note: Vogel apparently believed that the traffic summary he was given by the Naval Historical Center containing the famous "Where is Task Force 34" message from Nimitz to Halsey (on the night of 24 October 1944) differs somehow from the source cited by Morison in his account of the Leyte battle. However, Love checked the Morison mss and it appears that they are one in the same. A great deal of confusion persists over these records. It is worthwhile noting that Morison failed to interview or correspond with Admiral Halsey or Admiral Kinkaid, and that his account suffers as a result.)

Listing and description of service and civilian position. Retired 1965. Retired civilian employment (Hawaii state civil service) 1978.

Memo, Captain D. J. Vellis, undated, re: pre-World War II. Vellis' initial assignment was the battleship COLORADO, then at Pearl Harbor, as a junior officer in the Engineering Department. In December 1940, he and another member of the Class of 1940 were detached and ordered to destroyers. He reported aboard the destroyer DALE on 27 Jan 1941, and became Assistant Gunnery Officer (Torpedo Officer) and Assistant Communications Officer.

In discussing his duty, Vellis points out how quickly OODs qualified, and reminds his reader that "these were the days when standard distance [ship separation] for destroyers was 300 yards. That meant inside 300 yards! With no radars and only binoculars to determine distance during darkened ship at night it was 'hairy` deck watch."

Vellis comments on the well-trained pre-World War II Navy and observes that the night destroyer vs. battleship torpedo exercises were conducted without radars.

Vellis also recalls his experiences during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He was ashore on the evening of the 6th, and was awakened the following morning by a telephone call. His paints a vivid word-picture of Pearl Harbor that morning. The destroyer DALE was the first to stand out of the harbor that day. Vellis went aboard another destroyer which put to sea and joined up with a carrier task force searching in vain for the Japanese Carrier Force.