Col. Harvey C. “Barney” Barnum Jr.
United States Marine Corp ’62-‘89
Medal of Honor Recipient – Vietnam ‘65
Deputy Assistant/Assistant Secretary of the Navy
United States Marine Corp ’62-‘89
Medal of Honor Recipient – Vietnam ‘65
Deputy Assistant/Assistant Secretary of the Navy
Harvey Barnum Jr., also known as Barney, was born in the small agricultural town of Cheshire CT. Barney had a younger brother and recalls it was “a great and loving family.” “We didn’t have a hell of a lot, but we had everything.” His dad was a disciplinarian and a hard worker and often worked three jobs. He worked in the poultry business and then became business manager for a construction company. Despite all the hours he worked, Barney’s dad always found the time to be involved in Barney’s sports and Boy Scout activities. “Mom was a very talented homemaker, and she made our cloths as a matter of fact.”
Barney was active in the Boy Scouts, played football and baseball and was the President of Freshman and Senior class. In 1953 at the age of 13, he attended the Boy Scout Jamboree in California. He traveled by train to California which was a big thrill for a 13 year old boy back at a time when train travel was exciting. In 1957 he traveled by ship to the International Jamboree in England and then toured Europe with the Boy Scouts. “I had a great growing up.”
“My senior year in high school they had career day and all the recruiters from all services were there. The Army recruiter got up and gave his pitch and there were catcalls and whistles. The recruiters from the Air Force and Navy got up and there were catcalls and whistles. This old Marine Gunny gets up, slaps the table and says, ‘there is no one in this room I want in my Marine Corps. You’re all undisciplined and unmotivated. I am absolutely disgusted.’ Then he chewed out the faulty for letting the students get out of hand. He picked up his things and walked off the stage.” While the Gunny was packing, Barney approached him to ask some questions. “Here I thought, is a guy who is motivated, disciplined, mission oriented and does not take any nonsense. I think I’d like to be like that.”
In 1958 he enrolled in St Anselm College in Manchester NH where he majored in economics. “I went to a small school to settle down after high school.” He thought after a few years he would transfer to a bigger school “but I fell in love with it and never left.” St. Anselm’s didn’t have ROTC so Barney entered the Platoon Leaders Class (PLC) which is a Marine Corps Officer Training Program. He did two six week training sessions at the Maines Corps training center in Quantico, Virginia in 1959 and 1961 and was commissioned a 2ndlieutenant when he graduated college in 1962.
“I didn’t intend to make it a career, but I really didn’t know what I wanted to do.” Barney thought he would stay in for three years “and grow up a little and then launch into whatever I’m gonna do.” It turned out that discipline, regimentation, following orders and not arguing was like the Boy Scouts and right up his alley.
Barney went to basic training at Quantico and then attended two months of artillery school. From there he went on his first tour to Okinawa, Japan. There he joined Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rdDivision. He went on training exercises in the Philippines, Taiwan, and Korea. At the end of his first tour Barney knew he was where he belonged, and he applied to be a regular officer rather than a reserve officer.
In March of 1965 Barney went to Cherry Point, NC with the 2nd Marine Air Wing. He was a career planner for a year and then received orders to Marine Barracks Pearl Harbor. This was 1965 and the Vietnam war was ramping up but Barney was in a Guard Detachment. “We weren’t doing much of anything besides guarding doors and saluting Admirals.” Barney wanted to be where the action was. A fellow Marine came up with a plan to send officers to Vietnam on temporary duty (60 days) to serve in their MOS and then come back to Marine Barracks and tell the troops what it was like in combat. The idea was accepted and the first group to head over to Vietnam was scheduled for December. Barney went to the XO, the father of 9 children, and suggested that he be sent first because he was a bachelor. The others could be home with their families for the holidays and they could go on the next tour. Barney was selected and he headed for Vietnam. It was December 1965.
His destination was in Quang Tin Province, west of Cam Ranh Vietnam. He joined Echo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marines as a forward observer (FO). As an FO Barney was responsible to locate targets, call in the coordinates of the targets and call in any adjustments that needed to be made. A forward observer would be attached to a rifle company and Barney was assigned to Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. Barney was 25 years old and “in country” where the action was.
On December 18th Barney had been in country 14 days and became involved with Operation Harvest Moon. After a couple of days of patrolling, the operation was winding down. While patrolling on a narrow road that ran through the village of Ky Phu, with Barney’s company as the rear element, the company was ambushed by the Viet Cong. Heavy automatic weapons and rocket fire came from both sides of the road. I asked Barney if soldiers get scared in combat. “Anyone who tells you they are not scared is a liar. The main thing is to control the fear.”
At the onset, the Viet Cong identified the company commander, Captain Gormley, and the radio operator and mortally wounded both men. They wanted to take out the Officer and sever communications to leave the remaining Marines without leadership. The company corpsman, Doc Wes, went to give aid and he was shot three times. At this point Barney ran into the open and dodged heavy enemy fire to pull Doc West to cover. He went back for Captain Gormley and carried him back to cover where the captain died in his arms. At this point he knew the radio operator was dead. Barney was now the highest ranking officer in the company and the other Marines were looking to him for leadership. Barney again exposed himself to heavy enemy fire and ran to where the radio operator had fallen, took the radio and strapped it to his back. Barney assumed command and organized the Marines into a defensive position and then called in artillery fire to suppress the enemy. He recalls the enemy being especially close and the artillery landing just over the heads of the US troops. “Danger close” in military parlance. The artillery support helped to improve their situation and now Barney radioed battalion command to apprise them of the situation, that Captain Gormley was dead and that he had assumed command. The battalion commander listened to Barney’s assessment and told him to let everyone know he was in charge. Barney organized his men into defensive positions and called in more artillery and air support. The Marines were running low on ammo and the Viet Cong knew it. US helicopters made repeated passes and emptied their canons to help keep the enemy pinned down. Despite running out of ammunition the helicopters continued to make passes over the enemy until the Viet Cong figured out the helos were out of ammo.
As nightfall approach Battalion Headquarters advised Barney that he and his men were on their own to get out. Despite the very heavy enemy fire Barney was able to convince two transport helicopters to come in and remove the dead and wounded. Barney knew they only way out for the rest of his men was through 200 meters of open terrain and a steady hail of enemy gun fire. He instructed everyone to pile up the unusable equipment and then he ordered the engineers blow it up. Next, he had the men to take off their packs and burn them. Barney wanted everyone to be as light as possible in case they were shot during their long run. There was no place for cover and the wounded would have to be carried out.
The Marines made their 200 meter dash and were able to get to Highway 1 where they boarded a truck to head back to base. For his quick thinking, resourcefulness and bravery, Barney was nominated for the Medal of Honor. On Valentine’s Day 1967 Barney received word from the White House that he would receive the medal. At the time he was the fourth Marine and the first living officer to receive the Medal of Honor.
After receiving the Medal of Honor Barney wanted to return to Vietnam but the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Walt, asked Barney to be his aid. “If you can last a year with me, I’ll get you whatever assignment you want in the Marine Corps…but aids don’t last a year with me.” Barney served as the Generals traveling aid and got to visit all 50 states. At the end of 13 months Barney reminded the General of his promise. The General asked him where he wanted go. Barney said Vietnam. “You can’t go back to Vietnam; you have the Medal of Honor.” In the end the General honored his promise and Barney returned to Vietnam as the Battery Commander of Echo Battery, the same battery he had been with on his first tour. His second tour was very active, and Barney saw a lot of action. During this tour he was awarded the Bronze Star with a Combat V, a Gold Star, a Purple Heart, and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with a Silver Star to name a few.
During this tour his bunker came under heavy artillery fire causing it to collapse on Barney. He was buried by the debris and needed to be rescued. Lt Chuck Krulack, who went on to become the Commandant of the Marine Corp, led effort to dig Barney out. Barney was hurt but recovered and received a Purple Heart.
After returning from his second tour of Vietnam, Barney held numerous positions in the Marine Corps including Chief of Current Operations In Central Command, commanding officer of Headquarters Company, Battalion Commander of the 2nd Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island and Military Secretary to the Commandant. After a long and fulfilling career, Barney Retired from the Marine Corps. 1989.
Also in 1989, his friend arranged a blind date for him with Martha Hill. She was a marketing director with Nortel in the DC area, a widow, and the mother of two children. They hit it off and were married in 1992. Barney and Martha are coming up on their 30th wedding anniversary and are blessed with four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Professionally, Barney was looking for his niche. Freshly out of the Corp he was appointed by President George H. W. Bush as Principal Director of Drug Enforcement Policy for the Office of the Secretary of Defense under Dick Cheney. When the Clinton Administration took office Barney headed for the private sector. He tried his hand at consulting, but it didn’t agree with him. “It felt like trying to sell Tupperware to your friends.” He was also in the hotel business for a while but still, it wasn’t his passion.
In July 2001 he returned to the Pentagon when President George W. Bush appointed him
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Reserve Affairs. Two months later 9/11 hit. That changed everything. In the past, reservists were rarely called up. This time was different and Reservists were mobilized in great numbers. Barney met with these troops before they deployed, when they returned and made six trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. It was as close to being in the war as he could get as a civilian. It was a job he was good at, and he loved it. He was able to influence the action, be an advisor and advocate for the reserves.
Barney held that position for 8 years until the Obama Administration took office. At that time Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was asked to stay on in the Obama Administration. Barney assumed, as a political appointee he would be out of a job. However, Secretary Gates asked Barney to stay on as Assistant Secretary of the Navy until a replacement could be found. He did the job for four months and found that his views did not match those of the Administration, and he left the job.
Since leaving government Barney has been active in a variety of veterans causes and he is, of course, active in the Medal of Honor Society. Lately he spends time with his family at his river house in Virginia. He is also awaiting the completion of The USS Harvey C. Barnum, Jr. This is an Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer currently being built at the Bath Iron Works in Maine. It will 513 feet long by 66 feet wide.
I spoke with Barney in what he calls his “I love me room”. It has only a portion of his memorabilia including his officer’s sword, a gold plated drill instructors hat he received as a going away present from his time as Battalion Commander of the 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, a flag flown over the White House, photos from his time in government, medals displayed in decorative boxes and a collection of several dozen Challenge Coins. I told Barney a story of my daughter, a bone marrow transplant nurse, who receiving a Challenge Coin from a patient in the US Military. After this interview, Barney gave me one of his Medal of Honor Challenge Coins. That was truly an honor and one of my greatest memories of this project.
Barney is coming up on 82 birthday and he has a wealth of experience to share. I asked Barney some of the life lessons he learned during his time in the service that young people today should consider. The following is some of the wisdom he imparted:
Barney talked about how lucky he was to have great mentors. He talked about how receiving the Medal of Honor exposed to other Medal of Honor recipients. He described them in glowing terms and as great people, much as Lou Gehrig talked about his teammates and opponents in his farewell speech.
I asked Barney, if he looked back over his career, was there any one or two things that stuck out in his mind. “The whole damn thing.” “Life’s been good.”
Thank you, Barney, for your years of service to the Marine Corp and your country. Thank you for the example you have set and the wisdom you have imparted to others………….and thanks for the Challenge Coin!
Barney was active in the Boy Scouts, played football and baseball and was the President of Freshman and Senior class. In 1953 at the age of 13, he attended the Boy Scout Jamboree in California. He traveled by train to California which was a big thrill for a 13 year old boy back at a time when train travel was exciting. In 1957 he traveled by ship to the International Jamboree in England and then toured Europe with the Boy Scouts. “I had a great growing up.”
“My senior year in high school they had career day and all the recruiters from all services were there. The Army recruiter got up and gave his pitch and there were catcalls and whistles. The recruiters from the Air Force and Navy got up and there were catcalls and whistles. This old Marine Gunny gets up, slaps the table and says, ‘there is no one in this room I want in my Marine Corps. You’re all undisciplined and unmotivated. I am absolutely disgusted.’ Then he chewed out the faulty for letting the students get out of hand. He picked up his things and walked off the stage.” While the Gunny was packing, Barney approached him to ask some questions. “Here I thought, is a guy who is motivated, disciplined, mission oriented and does not take any nonsense. I think I’d like to be like that.”
In 1958 he enrolled in St Anselm College in Manchester NH where he majored in economics. “I went to a small school to settle down after high school.” He thought after a few years he would transfer to a bigger school “but I fell in love with it and never left.” St. Anselm’s didn’t have ROTC so Barney entered the Platoon Leaders Class (PLC) which is a Marine Corps Officer Training Program. He did two six week training sessions at the Maines Corps training center in Quantico, Virginia in 1959 and 1961 and was commissioned a 2ndlieutenant when he graduated college in 1962.
“I didn’t intend to make it a career, but I really didn’t know what I wanted to do.” Barney thought he would stay in for three years “and grow up a little and then launch into whatever I’m gonna do.” It turned out that discipline, regimentation, following orders and not arguing was like the Boy Scouts and right up his alley.
Barney went to basic training at Quantico and then attended two months of artillery school. From there he went on his first tour to Okinawa, Japan. There he joined Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rdDivision. He went on training exercises in the Philippines, Taiwan, and Korea. At the end of his first tour Barney knew he was where he belonged, and he applied to be a regular officer rather than a reserve officer.
In March of 1965 Barney went to Cherry Point, NC with the 2nd Marine Air Wing. He was a career planner for a year and then received orders to Marine Barracks Pearl Harbor. This was 1965 and the Vietnam war was ramping up but Barney was in a Guard Detachment. “We weren’t doing much of anything besides guarding doors and saluting Admirals.” Barney wanted to be where the action was. A fellow Marine came up with a plan to send officers to Vietnam on temporary duty (60 days) to serve in their MOS and then come back to Marine Barracks and tell the troops what it was like in combat. The idea was accepted and the first group to head over to Vietnam was scheduled for December. Barney went to the XO, the father of 9 children, and suggested that he be sent first because he was a bachelor. The others could be home with their families for the holidays and they could go on the next tour. Barney was selected and he headed for Vietnam. It was December 1965.
His destination was in Quang Tin Province, west of Cam Ranh Vietnam. He joined Echo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marines as a forward observer (FO). As an FO Barney was responsible to locate targets, call in the coordinates of the targets and call in any adjustments that needed to be made. A forward observer would be attached to a rifle company and Barney was assigned to Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. Barney was 25 years old and “in country” where the action was.
On December 18th Barney had been in country 14 days and became involved with Operation Harvest Moon. After a couple of days of patrolling, the operation was winding down. While patrolling on a narrow road that ran through the village of Ky Phu, with Barney’s company as the rear element, the company was ambushed by the Viet Cong. Heavy automatic weapons and rocket fire came from both sides of the road. I asked Barney if soldiers get scared in combat. “Anyone who tells you they are not scared is a liar. The main thing is to control the fear.”
At the onset, the Viet Cong identified the company commander, Captain Gormley, and the radio operator and mortally wounded both men. They wanted to take out the Officer and sever communications to leave the remaining Marines without leadership. The company corpsman, Doc Wes, went to give aid and he was shot three times. At this point Barney ran into the open and dodged heavy enemy fire to pull Doc West to cover. He went back for Captain Gormley and carried him back to cover where the captain died in his arms. At this point he knew the radio operator was dead. Barney was now the highest ranking officer in the company and the other Marines were looking to him for leadership. Barney again exposed himself to heavy enemy fire and ran to where the radio operator had fallen, took the radio and strapped it to his back. Barney assumed command and organized the Marines into a defensive position and then called in artillery fire to suppress the enemy. He recalls the enemy being especially close and the artillery landing just over the heads of the US troops. “Danger close” in military parlance. The artillery support helped to improve their situation and now Barney radioed battalion command to apprise them of the situation, that Captain Gormley was dead and that he had assumed command. The battalion commander listened to Barney’s assessment and told him to let everyone know he was in charge. Barney organized his men into defensive positions and called in more artillery and air support. The Marines were running low on ammo and the Viet Cong knew it. US helicopters made repeated passes and emptied their canons to help keep the enemy pinned down. Despite running out of ammunition the helicopters continued to make passes over the enemy until the Viet Cong figured out the helos were out of ammo.
As nightfall approach Battalion Headquarters advised Barney that he and his men were on their own to get out. Despite the very heavy enemy fire Barney was able to convince two transport helicopters to come in and remove the dead and wounded. Barney knew they only way out for the rest of his men was through 200 meters of open terrain and a steady hail of enemy gun fire. He instructed everyone to pile up the unusable equipment and then he ordered the engineers blow it up. Next, he had the men to take off their packs and burn them. Barney wanted everyone to be as light as possible in case they were shot during their long run. There was no place for cover and the wounded would have to be carried out.
The Marines made their 200 meter dash and were able to get to Highway 1 where they boarded a truck to head back to base. For his quick thinking, resourcefulness and bravery, Barney was nominated for the Medal of Honor. On Valentine’s Day 1967 Barney received word from the White House that he would receive the medal. At the time he was the fourth Marine and the first living officer to receive the Medal of Honor.
After receiving the Medal of Honor Barney wanted to return to Vietnam but the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Walt, asked Barney to be his aid. “If you can last a year with me, I’ll get you whatever assignment you want in the Marine Corps…but aids don’t last a year with me.” Barney served as the Generals traveling aid and got to visit all 50 states. At the end of 13 months Barney reminded the General of his promise. The General asked him where he wanted go. Barney said Vietnam. “You can’t go back to Vietnam; you have the Medal of Honor.” In the end the General honored his promise and Barney returned to Vietnam as the Battery Commander of Echo Battery, the same battery he had been with on his first tour. His second tour was very active, and Barney saw a lot of action. During this tour he was awarded the Bronze Star with a Combat V, a Gold Star, a Purple Heart, and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with a Silver Star to name a few.
During this tour his bunker came under heavy artillery fire causing it to collapse on Barney. He was buried by the debris and needed to be rescued. Lt Chuck Krulack, who went on to become the Commandant of the Marine Corp, led effort to dig Barney out. Barney was hurt but recovered and received a Purple Heart.
After returning from his second tour of Vietnam, Barney held numerous positions in the Marine Corps including Chief of Current Operations In Central Command, commanding officer of Headquarters Company, Battalion Commander of the 2nd Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island and Military Secretary to the Commandant. After a long and fulfilling career, Barney Retired from the Marine Corps. 1989.
Also in 1989, his friend arranged a blind date for him with Martha Hill. She was a marketing director with Nortel in the DC area, a widow, and the mother of two children. They hit it off and were married in 1992. Barney and Martha are coming up on their 30th wedding anniversary and are blessed with four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Professionally, Barney was looking for his niche. Freshly out of the Corp he was appointed by President George H. W. Bush as Principal Director of Drug Enforcement Policy for the Office of the Secretary of Defense under Dick Cheney. When the Clinton Administration took office Barney headed for the private sector. He tried his hand at consulting, but it didn’t agree with him. “It felt like trying to sell Tupperware to your friends.” He was also in the hotel business for a while but still, it wasn’t his passion.
In July 2001 he returned to the Pentagon when President George W. Bush appointed him
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Reserve Affairs. Two months later 9/11 hit. That changed everything. In the past, reservists were rarely called up. This time was different and Reservists were mobilized in great numbers. Barney met with these troops before they deployed, when they returned and made six trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. It was as close to being in the war as he could get as a civilian. It was a job he was good at, and he loved it. He was able to influence the action, be an advisor and advocate for the reserves.
Barney held that position for 8 years until the Obama Administration took office. At that time Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was asked to stay on in the Obama Administration. Barney assumed, as a political appointee he would be out of a job. However, Secretary Gates asked Barney to stay on as Assistant Secretary of the Navy until a replacement could be found. He did the job for four months and found that his views did not match those of the Administration, and he left the job.
Since leaving government Barney has been active in a variety of veterans causes and he is, of course, active in the Medal of Honor Society. Lately he spends time with his family at his river house in Virginia. He is also awaiting the completion of The USS Harvey C. Barnum, Jr. This is an Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer currently being built at the Bath Iron Works in Maine. It will 513 feet long by 66 feet wide.
I spoke with Barney in what he calls his “I love me room”. It has only a portion of his memorabilia including his officer’s sword, a gold plated drill instructors hat he received as a going away present from his time as Battalion Commander of the 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, a flag flown over the White House, photos from his time in government, medals displayed in decorative boxes and a collection of several dozen Challenge Coins. I told Barney a story of my daughter, a bone marrow transplant nurse, who receiving a Challenge Coin from a patient in the US Military. After this interview, Barney gave me one of his Medal of Honor Challenge Coins. That was truly an honor and one of my greatest memories of this project.
Barney is coming up on 82 birthday and he has a wealth of experience to share. I asked Barney some of the life lessons he learned during his time in the service that young people today should consider. The following is some of the wisdom he imparted:
- “It’s not about you. It’s about the people around you. Sure, material things make life a little easier sometimes. I don’t care if you have all the money in the world, if you don’t have friends, you don’t have nothing. “
- “Look, listen and learn from others.”
- “If you can’t lead yourself, you can’t lead others.”
- “Be mission Oriented, set your goals high and reach out to get them. Never say its too hard. If you try something and it doesn’t work, try something else.”
- “If you don’t have friends, you don’t have nothin’ ”.
Barney talked about how lucky he was to have great mentors. He talked about how receiving the Medal of Honor exposed to other Medal of Honor recipients. He described them in glowing terms and as great people, much as Lou Gehrig talked about his teammates and opponents in his farewell speech.
I asked Barney, if he looked back over his career, was there any one or two things that stuck out in his mind. “The whole damn thing.” “Life’s been good.”
Thank you, Barney, for your years of service to the Marine Corp and your country. Thank you for the example you have set and the wisdom you have imparted to others………….and thanks for the Challenge Coin!