Eligibility For The United Nations Medal For Service Rendered in The Congo
Eligibility For The United Nations Medal For Service Rendered in The Congo
Eligibility For The United Nations Medal For Service Rendered in The Congo
SOLANT AMITY I: Its perceived role in the region, its participation in UN Operations and the
processes that limited our full involvement.
United States Naval and Marine forces, specifically Company “L,” 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines out of Camp Lejeune,
NC and a detachment of helicopters (HMR(l)-264) on board USS Wasp (CVS-18) were deployed to the Belgian
Congo.[AKA: Zaire; AKA: Republic of the Congo].
Those same resources, as provided in detail at http://solantamity.com/Extraneous/OtherSols.htm of our website,
were privy to efforts made by U.S. Navy UDT and 2nd Marine Division Recon personnel to examine underwater
and shoreline alike for obstacles and conditions of recognized importance to forces contemplating the landing of
Battalion and larger sized Landing Teams of the time.
No deployments or reconnaissance of a similar nature were known to have occurred in that same region, ever.
Unlike the debacle of Tarawa, the Navy was going to be prepared for any contingency.
Stateside, in August of that same year, volunteers were sought from units of the 2 nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment
at Lejeune to develop a fully complemented “Table of Organization” unit: “G” Company.
As the Marine Corps was in its infancy development of something entitled “Controlled Input” at the time, the
demand of experienced infantrymen from surrounding units effectively diminished the intended designs of
Headquarters Marine Corps to eventually have all infantry units consist of personnel with at least fifteen months of
combined infantry and shipboard experience.
The establishment of a division-wide resource reinforced “G” Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines literally
produced what was probably the largest, most experienced peacetime, massively armed and logistically prepared
infantry unit in the history of the Marine Corps. And, for what? Well, we were told it was for a “good time, good
will” cruise to the west coast of Africa and the South Atlantic region.
Then, at a time when the military was having its financial teeth pulled by Congress, this already experienced Green
Machine was given rubber boat training common to Recon forces only, familiarity with “jump training!,” taken to
the Kunai grass shrouded hill-and-dale complex of Vieques, PR and provided staggering amounts of expensive
ammunition and explosives for live fire training. As well as still more helicopter drop-zone and amphibious tractor
landing exercises.
Thereafter flitting about in Caribbean and Brazilian waters for a bit, we arrived in Monrovia, Liberia on 5Jan61 and
provided a landing display of America’s massive military might, just as political and insurrectional tensions were
approaching a peak in the Congo region…but a hop-skip-and-jump away. By 28Jan61, the Solant Amity fleet
consisting of the USS Hermitage, USS Graham County AND MORE found itself enroute and involved with famine
relief at Matadi and the evacuation of injured, wounded and diseased troops from the Congo to Conakry, Guinea.
Staying pretty much within range of a reasonably quick deployment in Zaire, we “coasted about” the Gulf of
Guinea, while the political forces of the Communistic block insisted upon a diminished United States footprint in
the region.
And they got it…at least from all obvious appearances. Solant forces continued to sail the oceans blue along the
African coast until April of 1961 but well out of sight of observant eyes.
ONUC was established in July 1960 to ensure the withdrawal of Belgian forces, to assist the Government in
maintaining law and order and to provide technical assistance. The function of ONUC was subsequently modified to
include maintaining the territorial integrity and political independence of the Congo, preventing the occurrence of
civil war and securing the removal of all foreign military, paramilitary and advisory personnel not under the United
Nations Command, and all mercenaries