Vic Socotra

02 February 2009

Semper Fi

(Tim, Mac and John, Early this Year)

“If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven’s Scenes
They will find the streets well-guarded by
The United States Marines.”

The word was passed later last week. Lt. Col. John J. Guenther, USMC (Ret), 79, passed away peacefully at his residence at The Jefferson in Arlington, Virginia, on 29 October 2009. A mutual friend, a colleague and neighbor, reported that John had been in declining health for the past few months. He had just observed his 79th birthday.

There is going to be a Mass was held in his memory at St. Agnes Catholic Church, in Arlington, VA, on Wednesday, November 4. A funeral Mass at the Ft. Myer Chapel and funeral with full military honors will be conducted at Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday, January 14, 2010, followed by a reception at the O’ Club. The death notice for John appeared in the Washington Post this morning. I scanned it but there was not much in it, except the personal information about his family.

John’s family was a lot larger than just those of his blood. In fact, it is more than a Corps.

Mike Decker, who relieved John at USMC HQ, commented on a long and distinguished career this way: “John Guenther enlisted in the Marine Corps in January 1948. In September 1950, Corporal Guenther landed at Inchon with the Seventh Marines. In November and December, Sergeant Guenther was in the S2 during the Chosin Reservoir battle.”

(This photo is from the first week of November 1950 during the battle with Chinese forces at Sudong-ni. Sergeant John Guenther is on the left.)

“He served other challenging/tough tours in Cuba, Vietnam, and East Germany. He was a great Marine who embodied the full measure and meaning of Semper Fidelis. John served more than thirty years in the Marine Corps and, upon retirement, continued to serve in a civilian capacity, rising to the civilian equivalent of BGen and serving as the Assistant Director of Marine Corps Intelligence.”

That is where I first met John, in the mid-1980s, in the old thread-bare Navy Annex on the bluff above the Pentagon. He was a legend even then. Based on his contributions to the Marine Corps across six decades, which included active duty and service as the senior USMC civilian, he is widely credited as the Father of modern Marine Intelligence.

On hearing the sad news, JoeMaz commented: “John Guenther was a friend and mentor to many of us. Most importantly to me, though, he was a living connection for my WWII Marine Corp Dad who fought at Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Pelielu who I lost in 1996. There are all too few of our WWII heroes left. Semper Fi.”

I had a chance to work with John early this year on an article he did on Strategic Surprise during the North Korean and Chinese invasions of the South. He described his reaction at seeing his first dead North Koreans hanging from an old Soviet tank, and just how cold it was walking out of Frozen Chosin.

The article was part of something larger John wanted to complete before his tour was over. Mac says that recently completed and submitted to Marine Corps Headquarters a thorough history of Marine Corps intelligence, a project that he has worked on for the past several years.

All of us have lost a very good friend, Marine or not. He will be deeply missed.

Semper Fideles, John.

Always Faithful.

Vic Socotra

Close Window