May 30, 2021

I have two Marine Memorial Memories and they both involve Paul J. DuPre, Colonel USMC (front row seated on the left) during the 70th Anniversary of the Battle for Guadalcanal.

The first memory began a year earlier and almost 300 miles from the Marines’ Memorial at the airport in Santa Paula, CA. There I was introduced to Paul by his good friend Jon Williams a decorated Army Captain who served during the Vietnam War. Jon had asked me to fly he and the Colonel to San Francisco for the 69th Anniversary of the Battle for Guadalcanal, at which Paul was to read a copy of a message released by Rear Admiral R.K. Turner, who was the Task Force Commander on the Guadalcanal Amphibious Assault Landing, to those assembled to honor this occasion. Paul at the age of 97 was a tall, humble, and imposing figure. As a former Marine Platoon Commander and Certified Flight Instructor I was honored to join Paul on this flight and for this special day in San Francisco. After helping Paul into the pilot seat and strapping him in (he held a Commercial Pilot rating and had not flown for over 20 years) we taxied out and Paul was the Pilot in Command for our flight to San Francisco. His skills were still sharp, and he made a perfect landing at the San Carlos Airport. We made the thirty-five-minute drive to the Marines’ Memorial where I helped Paul out the car and with his hand on my shoulder we stepped up to the entrance where he stopped and said to me “I just want to stand here and look at these doors and this building”. He then mentioned that “he was a life member of the Marine Memorial Club in San Francisco dating back to 1946 when he had returned from duty in Chinwangtao, Tientsin and Peking China where he was assigned to duty in San Francisco and Treasure Island”. I was so honored and moved to be in this place, at this time, with a man that had participated in four amphibious assaults in the Pacific Theatre, was a China Marine and served in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars and served in the Marine Corps for thirty-three years and had the opportunity to be his co-pilot on this journey. But wait, it gets even better.

The following year I was again asked to be Paul’s co-pilot for another trip to San Francisco to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Battle for Guadalcanal on August 7th where James D. Hornfischer, the author of Neptune’s Inferno an account of the US Navy at Guadalcanal was the Guest Speaker. This is an extraordinary story of the bravery and horror of Naval warfare in the Pacific and their role at Guadalcanal. Paul, now 98 and battling cancer, was still up for the trip and as he landed the plane in San Carlos (a difficult landing with a challenging crosswind) he handed the controls over to me and with a peaceful smile and a soft voice said that was my last landing Michael. I was again honored to be sharing more than our time at the Marines’ Memorial with this man who represented to me all the reason’s I wanted to be a Marine.

Almost a year later Paul passed away and is resting peacefully in Arlington National Cemetery. In 2011 there were 13 Guadalcanal veterans in attendance, in 2012 there were 6 and today they have all gone to their rest. Semper Fidelis.

~ Michael L. Phillips (Ventura, CA)

Marines’ Memorial 70th Anniversary of the Battle for Guadalcanal August 7, 2012

I have two Marine Memorial Memories and they both involve Paul J. DuPre, Colonel USMC (front row seated on the left) during the 70th Anniversary of the Battle for Guadalcanal.