Marvin D. Fuller, 2/12th Battalion Commander

The photo above was a Command Photo taken of Lieutenant General Fuller taken while he was at Fort Hood Texas in the mid 80's

LTC Marvin D Fuller was an up and coming leader when he assumed command of the 2/12th Infantry from

LTC Aaron C. Atkins who trained the battalion early during its formation at Fort Lewis.

HE REMAINED WITH THE UNIT UNTIL HE WAS PROMOTED TO colonel AND SENT TO CU CHI TO LEAD

During a 2001 search for the location of the 2/12's Totem Pole my wife, chris, was able to contact Marvin D. Fuller and he graciously provided the following information on the symbolic tribute to the Historic Battalion. Along the way we learned of the outstanding leadership which our unit was blessed during our tour with 2/12

You have found the right ex- Battalion Commander, but not the totem pole. Let me tell you the history of this, in the event that I have some background that you do not.

When a unit goes overseas its unit memorabilia is shipped to a storage site in Virginia. This includes trophies, photo albums and the like. The senior battalion of the regiment, i.e., the first Bn is responsible for gathering, packing and shipping. In this case, the 1^st took off leaving everything in place. The Division staff asked that we in the 2^nd Bn. take over. We did what was required. During informal conversations with my friends on the Division staff, I found myself maneuvered into a bet that I couldn't move the regimental totem pole to Vietnam. You know the rest of the story. Incidentally, the totem pole belonged to the Regiment-it was given to them in Alaska during a maneuver back when regiments were the basic maneuver units in the 50's.

When we got to Vietnam we found a big mahogany tree we could cut lengthwise and restore the figures into the totem pole. We were given this tree by the local Buddhist monastery. The restoration and erection of the totem pole was serious business to the symbol oriented Vietnamese people and a group of local dignitaries attended our little rededication ceremony. At about that time I was promoted and moved to the 2^nd Brigade of the 25^th Division at Cuchi. I never saw the totem pole again.

After the war I saw a notice in a military oriented magazine,(probably Army) asking for any available information about the totem pole. My guess is that the nature of our withdrawal from Vietnam would have prevented the evacuation of the totem pole. Our headquarters were in a building to the Michelin Rubber Company. I'm sure they never came back. The nearby town was Dau Tieng. The Boa Dai temple was located there. They were a very eclectic "religion" (Victor Hugo was one of their saints) and might have taken the totem pole. There is also a possibility that the pole was banned by the communist and simply destroyed.

John Concannon, A/2/12's Executive Officer during it's preparation for Combat Duty at Fort Lewis, recently wrote me of Marvin Fuller. John served as the Intelligence Officer (S2) for the Battalion and was very familiar with Marvin Fuller and his reputation. He writes:

Lt. Colonel Fuller was the Battalion Commander during our training at Fort Lewis Washington, before we deployed to Vietnam. He was a big man, by that I mean he was very promotable, and highly regarded. He was destined to be the Brigade Commander of the 2^nd Brigade of the 25^th Division. That would have to come later as Marvin was determined to settle in the 2/12 in Vietnam before he accepted his promotion. All our Commanders tended to be solid and reliable, not flashy. They got missions done with us and they worked for us and with us. They would be delighted, but not surprised with what Alpha Association has accomplished to date.

To this day I still remember his call sign. It was Bourbon Savage 6. I remember one night in particular that says a lot about Lt. Col. Fuller. I was in the Battalion TOC with him as a crisis developed when one of our ambush patrols, early in our tour, was lost as they settled down for the night. Their LT had forgotten his map. He was trying to circumvent the problem by

counting the pace and using his compass. Unfortunately, they later came under enemy fire. Col Fuller and I talked them through the night on the radio. We were eventually able to pin point their location and the actual lay out of the patrol on the ground; we fired artillery for them, and taught them how to adjust it. I debriefed them when they came in the next day. Fuller was calm and steady. When there were problems he didn't get loud and angry.

Eventually he was promoted to Full Colonel and transferred to the 2^nd Brigade of the 25^th Brigade where he served as their Commander. Our loss was their gain."