Rear Admiral Richard Lyon – Scouts & Raiders – Navy SEAL
Born i
n the summer of 1923, Dick Lyon was destined to become an extraordinary waterman. Initially, while only a junior in high school, he became the #1 nationally ranked swimmer in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle. In 1940, Dick made the US national Olympic team. Mentored by the formidable Yale coach Bob Kiphuth, it’s no surprise that Dick entered Yale in the fall of 1941.
He enlisted in the Navy on October 9, 1942 while an engineering major at Yale, and entered the accelerated program, graduating after only two years and nine months. While taking a tough course load, Dick never let up on his training in the pool. The whole time he competed at Yale the swim team never lost a meet. During Dick’s junior year he anchored the 400-yard freestyle relay team which set a new world record, stealing it from the Japanese national team who had held the record previously. Hearing the patriotic crowd roar with excitement at the prospect of Americans beating the Japanese, Dick got his best-ever split on his leg. When he touched the wall, his teammates jumped in with him and yelled, “We got it!” As soon as he could, Dick sent a telegraph to his delighted parents telling them his relay team in essence had “just broken the world’s record, ho hum.” They weren’t fooled for a second by his low key message. They were all over the moon. Finally, he capped off his swimming career by captaining Yale to the NCAA Division 1 National Championship in his senior year.
After graduating with honors in 1944, Dick went on to Columbia Midshipman School in New York City for three months. After the first month he was selected to take command of the entire regiment (2,400 midshipmen). Three weeks before he was to graduate as a 90-day-wonder he saw a notice “Wanted: Volunteers for Special Warfare Unit Involving Demolition of Explosives. Must be Strong Swimmer.” The assignment to the Scouts and Raiders (forefathers of today’s Navy Seals) was just his calling.
Sent to Ft. Pierce, Florida, Dick went through Class 8 of the Scouts and Raiders along with 56 other tough naval officers. Scouts and Raiders was the Navy’s first special warfare unit, developed to conduct reconnaissance on potential invasion beaches. They were soon followed in 1942 by NCDU’s (navy combat demolition units), and in 1943 by “frogmen”, the Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT’s), who were responsible for blowing up natural (reefs) and man-made obstacles on beaches to clear a path for invasion forces.
The Scouts and Raiders were the first to endure such trials as “hell week”, a week with almost no sleep or rations, which is today a standard part of training for Navy SEALS that prepares them to find ways to survive on their own behind enemy lines. Three months later, Class 8 were sent to Europe, the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater, and the Pacific. Dick landed on the Pacific side, where he joined the Administrative Command Amphibious Force Pacific Fleet.
Hopping from island to island primarily in the Philippines, Dick got to do his first reconnaissance mission of the war at a beach a little bit outside of Davao, one of the larger cities on Mindanao. Dick found and reported that it was clear of natural and man-made obstacles, a good place for a landing. Exactly five days after he did the recon, the first atomic bomb dropped on Japan.
The Amphibious Force picked up elements of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Division, then went on to Japan’s Honshu Island. There, inside Sagami Wan, a large curved bay west of Tokyo Bay, near the village of Wakayama, Dick did another recon of a beach. The town looked abandoned, but as Dick looked out of the water towards the small town center he saw three people walking down the main street to the beach. It soon became clear they were waiting to talk to him. So, Dick walked out of the water and up the beach towards the men. The leader of the little group said in clear English, “I want to let you know that I and the people of this city are so glad that this war is over.” Somewhat surprised to have met his first Japanese, and one who spoke English so well, Dick said he was glad the war was over too, “And I think you will find the occupation a peaceful one.” His new acquaintance replied, “I am sure you will find that the case in Wakayama.”
After several minutes, Dick asked how he spoke such good English. The Japanese man said, “I’m a graduate of Harvard.”
Not one to let that slip, Dick immediately expressed his regrets, “Well my heart goes out to you, because Yale always beats Harvard at football.”
They made an appointment to meet again on the beach in three days, and his now Japanese friend brought Dick to his house as a guest, where they had a delightful evening. Dick’s gift of two cartons of Lucky Strikes could not have been more enthusiastically received, and as he left he was presented with a portfolio of 23 antique prints with detailed hand appliques of Samurai warriors, priceless!
Still not able to return home because he had so few points, Dick was somewhat at loose ends. Then he heard through the grapevine that the Commander of the 7th fleet based in Shanghai wanted a Scout intelligence officer on his staff. He spent the next year in northern China reporting on the activities of Mao Tse Tung’s armies on the Shantung Peninsula in an effort to hold off a Chinese civil war, an incredible experience for a very junior officer.
Leaving active duty after that assignment, Dick joined the Naval Reserves and had completed his first year of a Stanford MBA when he was recalled for Korea. Reporting in 1951 to Beach Jumper Unit 1, he again volunteered for NavSpecWar, UDTRA Class 2, and as a Navy Lieutenant became a Plank Owner (original commissioning member) of Underwater Demolition Team 5. That grueling training that UDT5 experienced was the beginning of what is now the 55-week SEAL training. Since then 281 additional classes have endured the training, and in early 2012 Class 287 will graduate.
After just a three-month training, UDT5 was sent immediately to Korea. For the first time, they took mission responsibility beyond the mean high-water mark. In fact, UDT5 went in and blew up rail lines and tunnels. Dick worked in North Korea, above the 38th parallel, inside Won San harbor, recovering a new type of anti-amphibious assault mine. His job was to dive in 36-degree water in a dry suit (before SCUBA and wetsuits existed), under fire, swim under the mine, and cut its mooring line with a pair of 24″ bolt cutters. After 20 minutes he had to be pulled out due to the cold. Working out of a little yellow raft with the explosive ordinance disposal expert, they would tow each mine to an island within the harbor and “render it safe”(defuse it). The mines were then sent back to Indian Head, Maryland, Navy Mine Warfare Headquarters, where all were determined to be Russian-made!
Dick eventually attained the rank of two-star Admiral in 1974, the first special warfare (SEAL) officer to do so. In this rank he was recalled for three more years of active duty as Deputy Chief of Naval Reserve, the senior reserve officer in the Navy. He has the distinction of holding the title “BullFrog 1”. “BullFrog” is that active-duty SEAL with the longest tenure in special warfare. When Admiral Eric Olson (BullFrog 14) retired, Admiral William H. McRaven, and Commander Brian Sebenaler (a Mustang) jointly inherited the title of BullFrog 15. Both graduated from BUD/S Class 87.
Retiring from the Navy after nearly 41 years of service, Dick became actively involved in community affairs. He was a founder and trustee president of Children’s Hospital, Orange County (CHOC). He also was a strong and cheerful supporter and advisor to the World War II History Project, as well as serving as mayor of Oceanside, California for eight years. A proud representative of the Scouts and Raiders, Dick lived on the beach and swam in the ocean in the summer. He enjoyed a very full family life with wife Cindy, nine children, 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren until passing in February, 2017.
Joe Glass – The Devil’s Brigade
by Zoe Hume
The First Special Service Force was an innocuous name for the joint Canadian-American fighting force created during World War II, but during late 1943 and early 1944 the men of the Force more than earned the nickname bestowed upon them by the Germans: The Black Devils. Covering their faces in black shoe polish, the Black Devils moved through the night, often behind enemy lines, attacking in small numbers with unprecedented fighting skills. From their first battle to their last, the Black Devils displayed toughness and tenacity as they fought more experienced and well-armed enemies. In Italy, the Black Devils summited the “un-scalable†cliffs of Monte La Difensa and overwhelmed an astonished German force at the top.
Joe Glass’ platoon, the 3rd Platoon, was the first up the ropes. Born in Sarnia, Ontario, on March 14th, 1920, Joe Glass weathered the Great Depression by first joining the Canadian Merchant Navy, then the Canadian Army. He then volunteered for the First Special Service Force, which recruited hardy outdoorsmen including lumberjacks, hunters, and forest rangers. The men trained in harsh temperatures and mountainous regions surrounding Helena, Montana. They parachuted from planes mere days into training, learned new hand-to-hand techniques under the tutelage of a former Shanghai Municipal Police officer and martial arts expert, and camped out in the wilderness to learn survival skills.
Though he reveled in his training, Joe was more than a rowdy kid who got into fights at local bars in Helena, as the Force men often did, and snuck out of camp at night to party in town with his best friend Lorin Waling. While out one night at the Casino Bar, he met the beautiful bartender Dorothy and her best friend Steffie. Joe later married Dorothy, and a few months after that Lorin married Steffie. The four had a friendship that lasted over 60 years.
Joe and Lorin summitted Monte La Difensa together, though they split up at the top. Joe moved to the right of the battlefield and Lorin went to the left, and in the early morning of December 3rd, 1943, the mountaintop exploded into chaos as the Force took on the Germans. One German sniper nearly ended Joe’s combat career just as it was starting and as Joe tried to line up his shot on the sniper, the sniper lined up on Joe. Chips of rock struck Joe in the eye, temporarily blinding him and damaging his little finger. While fighting the sniper, Joe was joined by another soldier and Captain Bill Rothlin. Joe warned them to stay low, but curiosity won out and both men peeked out from behind the rocks. Both were promptly shot and killed. Though it is unclear how the German sniper died (perhaps shot, perhaps blown up with a grenade), he disappeared shortly afterward.
After taking Monte La Difensa, the Force moved on to Anzio to hold a section of the line. The Force men numbered 800, and the division holding the line before them had numbered 10,000. To hold the line with so few men, the Force men snuck behind enemy lines to sow fear and destruction, scouting out the German positions. Here they earned their nickname the Black Devils as their polished-covered faces, necks, and hands were a part of their stealth tactics. Sometimes members of the Force would sneak behind enemy lines into the sleeping quarters of the enemy and kill just one, leaving a card that read, “Das dicke Ende kommt noch!†(translation: the worst is yet to come). This intimidation ensured that the Germans units positioned against the Force moved farther and farther back from the line. Despite his previous eye injury, Joe’s night vision was excellent. Both he and Lorin relished their nighttime scouting missions deep into enemy territory.
During a daytime raid near Borgo Piave on May 21st, 1944, Joe suffered near-fatal injuries after being shot through the back. The bullet tore through his lung, causing it to fill with blood. After being carried off the battlefield, a doctor from Detroit gave Joe a cigarette to smoke so he would cough up all the stagnant blood. He did actually cough up the clot, and doctors saved his one remaining lung. Once stable, Joe was flown to a US military hospital in Naples. After about a month in Naples, Joe returned to Santa Maria. Due to his injuries, he could not return to combat, was lucky enough to be able to stay connected with his unit by training replacement troops. When the new guys were sent to France, Joe connived a way to accompany them, but was still disappointed to be denied the opportunity to fight again.
In October of 1944, Joe was discharged from the Black Devils. He spent some time in England recuperating before returning to Sarnia to be reunited with his family. Joe and Dorothy moved to Helena in 1946, back to the place where he’d met the love of his life, he’d met his best friends, and his proudest chapter as a Black Devil had begun. Joe and Lorin drove taxis and talked about the war every day, remembering lost friends and the struggles they had endured. Joe moved on to running poker games, and finally opened businesses with his wife and eldest son in 1975, including B&J Bingo and Glass’ Fish ‘n Chips.
Joe Glass passed away on April 1st, 2012, in Helena, Montana.
