William G Leftwich

Full Name: William Groom Leftwich

Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee

Rank/Branch: Lieutenant Colonel (LtCol), United States Marine Corps

Key Unit(s):

• Commander, Brigade of Midshipmen, U.S. Naval Academy (as a midshipman)
• Senior Task Force Advisor, Task Force ALFA, Vietnamese Marine Brigade (early Vietnam tour)
• Commanding Officer, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division (final tour, Vietnam)

Death: November 18, 1970 — Quảng Nam Province, South Vietnam (helicopter crash during combat rescue mission)

Summary: William Groom Leftwich Jr. was one of the Marine Corps’ most respected combat leaders of the Vietnam era, known for his intelligence, calm under fire, and fierce loyalty to the Marines he led. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, where he served as Commander of the Brigade of Midshipmen, and went on to a distinguished career as an infantry and reconnaissance officer. In Vietnam, he first served as Senior Task Force Advisor to the Vietnamese Marine Brigade, where his heroism in leading a counterattack to relieve the besieged village of Hoai An on 9 March 1965 earned him the Navy Cross. Wounded multiple times during that action, he refused evacuation until air support was coordinated and his Marines were positioned to succeed.

By 1970, Leftwich was commanding the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division—a job that placed him at the very tip of the spear. On November 18, 1970, after personally accompanying a helicopter extraction to pull one of his recon teams out of heavy contact in mountainous terrain, the aircraft crashed into a hillside in poor weather, killing Leftwich and all aboard. His loss was deeply felt across the Corps, and his legacy has been honored in many ways: the destroyer USS Leftwich (DD-984) was named for him, the Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center at the Naval Academy bears his name, and the Marine Corps’ Leftwich Trophy is awarded annually to an outstanding captain in the Fleet Marine Force for leadership in his memory. For Marines and warriors who come after, Leftwich stands as the model of a commander who never asked others to take a risk he was unwilling to share.

Submitted by: Rich Brown