Tualatin veteran to be honored by Wu
Robert Derbyshire
Jaime Valdez / The Times
World War II veteran Robert Derbyshire will have his day in the spotlight Saturday.
The 85-year-old Tualatin man is one of about 50 veterans who will be honored during a Veterans Congressional Recognition Ceremony at the U.S. Navy Station Swan Island in Portland.
U.S. Rep. David Wu, a Hillsdale Democrat, will present the group of distinguished World War II and Vietnam War veterans with certificates of Special Congressional Recognition.
Derbyshire has lived in Tualatin with his wife Ora since 1979.
“I don’t think that we were recognized as much as we should have been,” said Derbyshire who served as Navy gunner in the Naval Armed Guard Service aboard merchant ships from 1943 to 1946. “But I think it’s a nice gesture on the part of our elected leaders.”
The ceremony has been months in the making.
Last May, Wu set out to locate World War II and Vietnam veterans deserving of the recognition in Oregon’s 1st Congressional District.
During World War II, some members of the U.S. Navy Armed Guard defended merchant ships delivering much-needed supplies to the war effort. Although these soldiers served admirably and regularly saw combat, they have been largely unrecognized because they were not stationed on a military vessel, Wu said.
Legislation was passed in 1999 to give members of Congress the authority to recognize the contribution of these veterans.
Veterans who received the Vietnam Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, or the Vietnam Campaign Medal for service in the Vietnam War are also eligible for the certificate of Special Congressional Recognition.
Robert Derbyshire has always been very patriotic.
When he was 15, he lied about his age to train with Civilian Military Training Corps, eventually earning the right to join the machinegun company.
“I believed in preparing myself for the war that was coming, and being able to hit the target,” Derbyshire said.
In 1943, he joined the Navy and was stationed aboard various merchant ships, based out of Treasure Island in San Francisco and Brooklyn Navel Yard in New York.
From there, Derbyshire traveled all over the world, making stops in Australia, Sri Lanka, India and various other locales.
“I went around the world two and half times. Saw a lot of country and a lot of people. It gave you quite an education about the rest of the world and the people who live in it.”
Derbyshire said that one of his most memorable moments in the service was when he participated in the sinking of an enemy submarine in the Bay of Bengal, south of India.
“The commodore ordered us to fire our guns to test them out, and a sub came up,” he said. “He chased us for three or four days. Evidently, he was out of torpedoes.”
Eventually the fleet Derbyshire was with trapped the sub and dropped depth charges. They never saw it again.
“I would recommend joining the service to any young fella. It builds character,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing to be a veteran.”
Sherwood vets also to be honored
Among those also receiving a certificate of Special Congressional Recognition on Saturday will be two Sherwood veterans – one who served in the U.S. Navy on a merchant ship gun crew, the other who was wounded in Vietnam.
Allan Popp
Allan Popp, 83, enlisted in the Naval Reserves during World War II, traveling to such places as New Guinea and the Philippines.
One of his most vivid memories involved the time he and his crew had to protect a large payload of dynamite in three of the ship’s holds. The explosives made him nervous because he knew that enemy planes could easily deduce from the deck arrangement that they were carrying some special cargo and blow the vessel into a million pieces.
“We were very relieved to get rid of it,” he said.
After his service, he headed to Lewis and Clark College to study business administration. When the Korean War came along, Popp heard that the Navy was only looking for soldiers with technical skills – such as electronics technicians – to rejoin. Being a gunner’s mate, he thought he was safe.
“A gunner’s mate is about as highly technical as being hit in the head with a sledgehammer,” he said. “And I no sooner walked into the house and here’s this love note from the Navy (that says) ‘you’ve been recalled.’”
During the Korean War, Popp was assigned to a destroyer escort ship. It was a memorable tour of duty because of what happen one day about 20 miles off the California coast.
“We’re pretty damn sure we had a collision with a Russian sub,” he said. “We know we collided and we know damn well it was a submarine.”
Popp said he’s looking forward to Saturday’s ceremony.
“Whatever it (the award) is, I guess we should say ‘it’s nice to be remembered,’” Popp said.
Sean Dillon
Sean Dillon, 60, served in Vietnam for six months (and 19 days) in 1969.
The day he was wounded was Nov. 22, a date that sticks clearly in his mind because it was exactly six years after President Kennedy was shot.
Originally stationed with the Delta Company, First Battalion, Third Marines with the Third Marine Division, he was later transferred to the India Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines.
Patrolling the Hoi An Valley in Vietnam, near Danang, he was seriously wounded.
“One of the guys close to me set off a land mine and I was wounded by it,” said Dillon. “The explosion threw me in the air, so they told me.”
The mine killed his platoon commander, Lt. Lee.
The next thing he remembered was waking up in the intensive care unit a few days later with extensive injuries. Dillon recalled that a few days after the incident, another member of his squad was wounded and ended up in the same hospital. The soldier asked a corpsman if Dillon was there as well.
When the corpsman confirmed he was, the soldier quipped: “Tell Dillon I didn’t know he could fly.”
A native of Long Island, N.Y., Dillon move his family to Sherwood in 1995. For the last 20 years he’s worked as a math teacher in the Portland School District, and said he’s happy to receive the recognition from Wu.
In addition to the Purple Heart, Dillon has previously received the Vietnam campaign medal, the Vietnam service medal and a combat action ribbon.