Testimonials
Kenneth N Jordan
I am an author. My previously published books include:
Heroes of our Time. Medal of Honor Vietnam: Forgotten Heroes. Medal of Honor Korea; Yesterday'sHeroes. Medal of Honor WWII and Men of Honor. 38 Highly decorated Marines of WWII, Korea and Vietnam.
I am writing this letter in support of the Medal of Honor for Sgt/Maj John Canley, USMC Ret. I was not a member of Alpha Company, I recently finished writing a book about them (Alpha 1/1. Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines from Con Thien to Hue to Khe Sanh).
In my research, I tracked down and interviewed 150 Marines who served in Alpha Company. To every single Marine that served with him, Sgt/Maj Canley was not only a Gunny, he was "THE GUNNY". To them he was invincible.
The Medal of Honor criteria is "for conspicuous gallantry and
intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." Without any
exaggeration, that describes Sgt/Maj Canley's whole tour of duty in Vietnam.
In writing my Medal of Honor books I've read over 800 Medal of Honor citations and talked to several Medal of Honor recipients. Not taking anything away from their heroic achievements, but most were one-time, spur-of-the moment occurrences. Sgt/Maj Canley's sustained conspicuous gallantry at the risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty certainly not only merits consideration, but more than qualifies him for this Country's highest award, the Medal of Honor. if many of the eyewitness accounts had not been lost Sgt/Maj Canley would have, rightfully, received this award many years ago.
Here are just a few excerpts of what the men said about him. All of the excerpts are from my interviews which took place several years ago, before the efforts to have Sgt/Maj Canley's Navy Cross raised to the Medal of Honor:
Maj/Gen Ray Smith
With all my years in the Marine Corps those months with Alpha Company still stand first in my mind. But, when I think of Alpha 1(USD 1.97) /1 I, like nearly all Alpha Company Marines, think of Gunny Canley. He will always epitomize the 'Grunt' to me. Everyone's REAL MARINE.
Capt. William Stensland
"Gunny Canley was well over six feet tall, weighed in excess of 230 pounds and was quite impressive. He was the best infantry Gunnery Sergeant I had seen to that point or saw thereafter while I was in the Marine Corps,"
On November 26,1967 Alpha Co. was ambushed while out on patrol at Con Thien. Here is what the Company Commander, Capt. William Stensland had to say about Canley's actions that day: "I got to observe one of the coolest performances of duty in combat that I had ever seen. One of the Gunnery Sergeant's jobs is to organize and supervise the evacuation of the dead and wounded. Gunny Canley knew his job and did it well. While a continuous curtain of mortars poured down on us, I watched the Gunny in action. At one point he crossed about 25 meters of open terrain, through the incoming mortars and continuous small-arms fire, calmly carrying two Marines, one on his shoulder and the other under his arm. All the while he was issuing orders to the other Marines helping him. Moments later he rushed to other casualties, no more than a few meters from enemy positions, to give more assistance. In all, I saw him move to and from the scene of battle at least five times, each time either assisting in their evacuation or carrying a litter to be used for another casualty. I personally observed the shear strength, determination, and physical courage of this man under extremely heavy fire all the while remaining unbelievably calm, almost as if there were, in fact, no incoming."
L/Cpl Fred VanDenakker
In the same battle this observation from L/Cpl Fred VanDenakker: "that was my first time witnessing Gunny Canley in action. In the middle of this battle, here he was walking around picking up the dead and wounded and taking them to the rear. I was eating dirt and he was strolling around like there was nothing going on! He kept the unit together and saved a lot of lives. The Gunny is one guy I'll never forget as long as I live."
Pfc Jack Tibbs
"Gunny Canley was a giant of a man. I can remember bullets flying all around us at Con Thien, us laying on the ground and him standing straight up giving orders. He was unbelievable. I cannot remember a more imposing figure of a man, but he loved and took care of his Marines."
L/Cpl Ed Anderson
"Gunny Canley was certainly on a different plain. He could stand in the middle of a firefight, light a cigarette and not get shot. He was the epitome of calm under fire."
HM3 TerryOhihauser
"I've got to say that Gunny Canley is probably the person that impressed me most in my life. He had a tremendous amount of courage and he would talk to you man to man. He led by example."
Cpl Dennis Dunlap
"Not only is Gunny Canley the bravest man I ever met, but, next to my father, he is the man I most admire."
Cpl. Larry Bilby
On December 15, 1967, Bravo Co. got caught in an ambush and Alpha was sent out to help. This is from Cpl. Larry Bilby: "We were in a staggered column in ruts that had been left by tank tracks. I was in the left tank track and Doc Seward was in the right tank track just ahead of me. A sniper opened up on us and hit Doc Seward and the guy behind him. I dropped down into the tank track which was a little over a foot deep. I could hear Doc Seward yelling for help. As I lay there trying to work up the courage to crawl across to help the Doc I suddenly heard what sounded like foot steps sloshing through the mud behind me. I looked over my shoulder and there was Gunny Canley walking down the middle of the trail. He walked past me, bent down and picked up Doc Seward, put him on his shoulder and carried him back. As he walk back he said to me 'keep your head down son, we've got a lot of incoming". That guy was something else. Here I was eating mud, trying to get up the nerve to crawl over to Doc Seward and the Gunny walks by like he's out on a Sunday stroll."
L/Cpl Edward Hawes
On February 8, 1968 while going out to help another unit Alpha's 106 gun crew got hit. They evacuated the wounded and spent the next several hours trying to retrieve the gun. This is from L/Cpl Edward Hawes: "Every time we'd try the enemy fire would drive us back. Finally, we grabbed the gun, but one of our guys got hit. We ran into a concrete building which was off to our left. It had no windows just a door. I could hear a tremendous pounding and see flashes as the bullets hit the wall around the door. We were stuck. There was Helton, Gunny Canley, the wounded guy, a couple other people and myself. Gunny Canley took some C-4 and planted it against the back wall. We all got down behind some boxes while the Gunny blew a hole in the wall and we were able to get out of there. I'll tell you Gunny Canley was something else. He made John Wayne and Clint Eastwood look like pussy cats."
Pfc Clement Labine
On February 9, 1968 Alpha was engaged in a battle with a large NVA force near the soccer stadium. This is from Pfc Clement Labine: "After the tank got hit, I looked up and saw Gunny Canley trudge up the street like nothing was going on, pull two guys out of the tank, throw them over his shoulders and bring them back. He was one of the heroes of the day. Here we were trying to dig foxholes in the cement and he was walking around like nothing was going on!"
L/Cpl Roger Blumberg
In the same battle, this is from L/Cpl Roger Blumberg:" I saw Gunny Canley charge up the street and pick up a wounded guy. Bullets were flying all around him and he turned and had a look like, ' who the hell do you think you're shooting at?" I'll tell you the man was invincible.
L/Cpl Paul Patterson
In the same battle, this is from L/Cpl Paul Patterson: "When the tank got hit we got pinned down and were unable to get the wounded. Gunny Canley was the first to make a move to rescue them. In doing so he too got pinned down. As we laid down fire on the enemy position the Gunny got up, picked up the wounded man and carried him back to safety I was glad the gunny was with us. I knew that if any of us were out there the Gunny would be the first to come to our rescue."
L/CpS Rod McLaren
"Gunny Canley is the bravest man I've ever met. He knew no fear and led by example."
L/Cpl Richard Pettitt
I walked point for 1st Platoon in Hue City. On the morning of February 9th. Alpha Co. moved out to clear an area around the soccer stadium. There were reports that an NVA battalion held the area. As we approached the first intersection we took a few rounds of enemy fire. Everyone took cover. When the firing stopped we started moving forward again. As I got to the middle of the intersection the enemy opened up again and I was hit in the stomach with an AK- 47 round. The bullet nicked my spine and Iw-as temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. All hell was breaking loose, but I couldn't move. My squad leader, Johnson, tried to get me, but got hit in the leg and had to crawl back to cover. The Corpsman, Onlhauser, ran out and as he was dragging me back I got hit in the stomach again. At least 15 bullets hit the pavement around me. That's when Gunny Canley ran out, under tremendous fire. picked me up (I weighed about 190 pounds at the time), carried me over and put me on the back of a tank. Bullets were flying everywhere and had I laid out there any longer I probably would have been killed. Gunny Canley saved my life that day at the risk of his own and I'll always be grateful to him.