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It was 29 November 1950 at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea.</p>
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“Down on the road, Colonel Faith’s column suddenly received fire from the vicinity of friendly units across the finger of ice. Believing that the fire was coming from his own troops, Colonel MacLean started across the ice to make contact with them and halt the fire. He was hit four times by enemy fire—the men watching could see his body jerk with each impact— but he continued and reached the other side. There he disappeared and was not seen again.” (<em>Combat Actions in Korea</em>, Captain Russell A. Gugeler, Copyright 1954 by Association of the U.S. Army.</p>
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Mac’s last known official action as described above, resulting in his tragic and untimely death, was nevertheless typical and illustrative of this gallant soldier. Mac possessed ceaseless energy, dynamic personality, and an uncompromising will to get things done; his entire military career was one of accomplishment. To his many friends and associates, Mac represented and lived the example of immediate execution of necessary tasks. He never undertook a job with reserve. Every job that required action, significant or trivial, brought forth every ounce of his ready and full energies.</p>
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And so, on that bleak November day, when part of his command came under fire and was apparently cut off from friendly supporting troops, Mac set out to do something about it. With complete disregard for his own personal safety, he immediately moved forward into the critical part of the battlefield to save his command. On that day he made the supreme sacrifice for his men and his country. The test of the truly great soldier and leader had been met and there was no hesitation—no compromise.</p>
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One must remember, also, Mac’s direct lineage through the bravest and boldest of Scottish clans, the MacLean of Duard (whence his name). Mac died in the great tradition of the clan: fighting to save others. The clan’s double motto, “Life or Death” and “Another for Hector,” stems from this noble tradition and its finest hour at Inverkeithing in 1651 as the clan engaged Oliver Cromwell. During the battle, seven brothers (another, and another, et. seq.) came in turn to defend their chief’s person, only to fight and perish by his side.</p>
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In Mac’s passing, the Clan MacLean shares with us our great pride in this courageous soldier. Shortly after the official announcement of Mac’s death, his family received a touching message of tribute and condolence from Major Sir Charles Hector Fitzroy MacLean of Duard, present and 27th Hereditary Chief of his clan, who dwells as did his forebears in the clifftop castle overlooking the ancient battlegrounds.</p>
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Mac was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on 20 July 1907, the son of Robert John MacLean. Before he was of school age, his family had moved to Spokane, Washington, later to Atlanta, Georgia, and finally settled in Detroit, Michigan, where Mac started school. In 1922 he entered Georgia Military Academy. He graduated with the highest honors of his class, for which he was awarded a Diamond Medal.</p>
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Mac was the first student of Georgia Military Academy to win an Honor School appointment to the United States Military Academy; he entered West Point on 1 July 1926 and graduated in 1930. While a cadet, his friends began to appreciate his sincerity and friendliness, as well as his intense interest in all of his undertakings. Mac was affable and made friends quickly with those around him. Friendship was seldom a passing thing with him, because the intense nature of his personality forbade such.</p>
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It was only natural that Mac’s energies should carry him to the football field, where he won a position as a tackle on the great Army teams of 1926-1930, with such football immortals as Red Cagle, Light Horse Harry Wilson, Blondy Saunders, Buster Perry, and many others.</p>
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After graduation from the Academy, Mac served in the usual peacetime Army assignments, beginning his career with the 11th Infantry at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. While stationed in the Philippines, in 1936, he fell in love with Dora (Dodie) Brandreth. They were married in Manila on 2 March 1936, while Mac was serving with the 31st Infantry Regiment. It was not until after World War II, however, that their only child, Catherine Anne, was born on 30 September 1947. Cathy brought to Mac and Dodie a happiness they had never known before, and she continues to bring great comfort and help to Dodie in bridging the gap left in her life. Like her father in many ways, Catherine Anne reflects much of his great energy and enthusiasm.</p>
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Mac is also survived by a sister, Lola MacLean of Detroit. Mac’s father passed away on 2 March 1954, only two weeks before the Department’s message that Mac must be presumed to be dead.</p>
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After returning to the United States in 1937, Mac attended the Infantry School and later the Tank School at Fort Benning. After two years with the 66th Infantry (Light Tanks) at Fort Benning and Fort Meade, he became a member of the Reorganization Board under General Lesley J. McNair; he later served with Headquarters. Army Ground Forces, playing an active and important role in training the huge American ground army being prepared for the invasions of Europe, the Philippines, and Japan. While on this duty he attended and graduated from the Command and General Staff School, 5th General Staff Class, in 1941. Following a brief tour of duty with the 7th Armored Division at Camp Polk in 1944, Mac went to England where he attended the British Staff College at Camberley. From Camberley he was assigned to the Operations Section, G3, of Headquarters, ETOUSA, where he was primarily responsible for the coordination of movements of Ground Force units from the United States to their final battlefield assignments in one of the field armies of General Bradley’s 12th Army Group.</p>
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Upon cessation of hostilities, Mac’s duties, instead of decreasing, were greatly intensified. Redeployment of troops to the Far East for the planned invasion of Japan, and to the United States for demobilization, was immediately begun. Through both cycles, Mac’s driving energy and great capacity played a vital role in the Army’s operations.</p>
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After World War II, Mac returned to the United States and attended the first class of the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia, later serving in the office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G2, Department of the Army, as Executive Officer of the Intelligence Group.</p>
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In early 1949 he was ordered to the Far East Command and was assigned command of the 32d Infantry Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division, with station at Camp Haugen, Honshu. It was during this assignment that Mac’s tireless energy and exceptional leadership reached its greatest peak. At the time of assuming command, the regiment was being reactivated from elements of the 11th Airborne Division and the 12th Cavalry Regiment. At the same time, the Eighth Army under General Walker was intensifying efforts to bring all combat troops in the Far East Command to the maximum combat effectiveness. It is a great tribute to Mac’s leadership, resourcefulness, imagination, and initiative, that within the short period of a few months, the newly reactivated 32d Infantry, of all regimental and group units in the Eighth Army, received the highest combat effectiveness rating given by Eighth Army Headquarters. By his drive and perseverance this training was maintained through the entire year. To a great degree, he alone was responsible for the magnificent accomplishments of this famous regiment of the 7th Division in such early battles of the Korean War as the Inchon Landing and the Capture of Seoul, the Iwon Landing and Advance to the Yalu River, the Successful Defense and Evacuation of X Corps at Hungnam, and the counteroffensive operations against the Chinese Communists in the winter, spring, and summer of 1951.</p>
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Early in July 1950, shortly before the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, Mac was assigned to the G3 Section, Headquarters Eighth Army, and moved to Korea with General Walker as part of his advance headquarters. In the initial operation in Korea, Mac served as the roving representative of the army commander, an assignment which entailed continuous visits to the critical areas of the battlefield.</p>
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To those battalion, regimental, and division commanders fighting the initial delaying action of the first two months of the Korean War, Mac was a familiar and welcome visitor. He became known as “The Eyes of the Army Commander”, and many of the important decisions made during those early operations can be attributed to his accurate and personal knowledge of the situation, and to the sound reports and recommendations he made to General Walker. In late September of that year he was given command of the 31st Infantry—the same regiment with which he had served in the Philippines. At the time of his disappearance he was commanding all units east of Chosin Reservoir, which included the attached 1st Battalion of the 32d Infantry commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Don C. Faith and accounts for his being with this unit on the night of 29 November.</p>
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Mac’s outstanding services in World War II and Korea were recognized by awards of the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star (2), Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star (2), Air Medal (4), and the Purple Heart.</p>
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The worldly part of Mac, that part which we knew, is somewhere in Korea. On 29 November 1950 at the Chosin Reservoir his military career dedicated to loyalty, duty, and country came to an end. Mac has joined the Long Gray Line of distinguished sons of West Point, and like so many before him, he has found a “soldier’s resting place beneath a soldier’s blow.” Of him it may truly be said, “Well done, be thou at peace.”</p>
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<em>—Charles E. Beauchamp, ‘30</em></p>
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