Gordon, Chaffee honored; recall history of WWII, Camp Chaffee

story and photos by Marla Cantrell
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Dick Gordon Jr. sat next to Sergeant Major Adna Chaffee IV in the building where Fort Chaffee’s military memorabilia is displayed. Gordon, 87, adjusted his bolo tie, ran his palm across his silver hair and looked out across the crowded room.

The two were the honored guests at a reception held at Chaffee Crossing on Friday (Sept. 3). Gordon Jr.’s father, Colonel Richard Gordon Sr., served as chief of staff for the 16th Armored Division at Fort Chaffee in the 1940s, and was wounded in the European Theater of Operations in 1945. Chaffee’s grandfather, General Adna Chaffee II, is the man the base is named for.

U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, presented Gordon Jr. with four military medals of his own, and ten for his late father, who served in both World Wars. Boozman spoke of Gordon, Jr.’s generation, the trials of growing up during the Great Depression, and their sacrifices during World War II.

When Gordon Jr. came to the podium, he leaned on his cane, and spoke about his life in the military. He served as second lieutenant in the Army’s 13th Field Artillery Unit, 24th Infantry Division during World War II, and worked his way up to assistant adjutant general. His four medals included one for his honorary discharge, an Asiatic Pacific medal, one for the World War II victory, and one for the Army occupation for service in Japan.

“Honor belongs to the younger generations, the kids who’ve been in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Gordon Jr. said. “And we forget about the ones in Panama and Grenada. And, of course, who I really feel sorry for are the ones the real injustice was done to — the ones who served in Vietnam.”

He also spoke of the women who served alongside the soldiers fighting in World War II.

“The people that you don’t hear about are the nurses,” Gordon Jr. said, his voice steady and his memory sharp. “I went with the first occupation into Japan, and one of the things the Japanese were bad about, and they did it in every place they occupied, was they raped the women. The nurses knew if they were ever captured, they were going to be raped.”

Gordon Jr. has a deep respect for the women who served their country.

“I served on the committee to discuss whether the WACs should be considered regular army,” he said. “I had one WAC working in my section who did a tremendous job. I told them they did as good a job as any man. And so now we have women in the regular army.”

After the applause faded, Ivy Owen, executive director of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, introduced Sergeant Major Chaffee IV, who traveled from Georgia to be at the ceremony.

“Everything I touch or see every day has your name on it,” Owen said.

Owen went on to describe the Sergeant Major’s father who graduated from West Point and served as a captain in the Army, his great-grandfather who served as second chief of staff in the China Relief Expedition in 1900, and finally his grandfather General Chaffee Jr. who died while on active duty in 1941. In September of that same year, Fort Chaffee was named in his honor.

Chaffee IV, in full military dress, stood before the crowd and talked about the honor he felt at the base, and how important it was to give the museum several of his family documents, photos, and a Fort Chaffee annual for the permanent collection.

“General Chaffee died at the age of 57,” Chaffee IV said. “I was only two. I have a photo of him holding me. Most of what I know about him I learned from my father. … When I graduated from high school you had only a few choices. Get drafted, join the National Guard or Reserves, or enlist. So I enlisted.”

He is proud of his lineage, and the base that wears his family’s name. He plans to donate more memorabilia to the museum, so that the history so deeply engrained in him will live on at the military base.