Leland “Lou” Diamond was born in Bedford, Ohio back in 1890 to Herbert and Mima. I don’t have much of anything about his upbringing however that is not important to the rest of the story, so here we go.
He enlisted in the United States Marine Corp in 1917 at the age of 27. His assigned service number was 98912. He had a powerful voice which went along with his stature of 5’11” and 200-pound frame. His nickname was “The Honker” he was considered by his comrades to be “a human air-raid warning system.” As a corporal seeing battle at Chateau Thierry and Belleau Wood just to name a few. he was promoted to Sergeant before the end of WWI and released with an honorable discharge.
He returned to working on the railroad however, that did not suit him so he returned and re-enlisted in 1921. In 1939, he was promoted to Master Gunnery Sergeant. He was sent to Guadalcanal when he was 52. His accuracy with motors was cemented when he lobbed a motor shells towards a Japanese cruiser causing it to take diversionary actions to avoid the deadly fire. He retired in 1945 from the service. He is known as the “Old Breed” among the Corp, one of his nicknames was “Mr. Leatherneck”. Actor ward Bond played Leland in the television series Cavalcade of America. The Filipino-American actor Lou Diamond Phillips was named after him by his father, an officer in the U.S. Navy. His medals are too numerous to mention, there was a load of them.
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