WWII Marine gets Tun Tavern-style USMC farewell
Palmer Andrews, elder statesman of the Antelope Valley’s Marines, had his life celebrated and his death marked at Bravery Brewing Co., a pub as close in spirit to Tun Tavern as any such gathering spot anywhere.
Featuring a flag mural the size of a military helicopter and wall photos of hundreds of veterans, the Bravery microbrewery and pub was coowned by “Gunny” R. Lee Ermey, the real-life Marine Corps DI who starred in Stanley Kubrick’s saga of Vietnam War Marines, “Full Metal Jacket.”
If there is a service that defines itself on its culture and heritage, the United States Marine Corps stands out, and nothing is so celebrated as the Marine Corps birthday.
The Corps was launched Nov. 10, 1775, in a Philadelphia pub, Tun Tavern, and the celebrated lore is that the “Corps of Naval Infantry,” raised, rough men with cutlasses and muskets, formed in a bar amid tankards of strong ale.
Ermey, who presided at Bravery during several Marine
Corps birthday celebrations before his death in 2018, introduced Andrews several times as the Antelope Valley’s senior Marine.
It is honored tradition that the oldest Marine, and the youngest, join together at the slicing of the Marine birthday cake, cut with a ceremonial saber.
“Grandpa loved cake, and he loved that cake,” his grandson and caregiver Allen Quinton said.
And the Marines who gathered for the Corps birthday revered Andrews as the senior Marine present.
Nearly 100 veterans, many Marines, joined by their Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard brothers and sisters turned out Saturday to lift their glasses in a farewell salute to a man who was their beloved comrade.
“I want to thank everyone for coming,” Bravery owner Bart Avery said. “I appreciate all of you. I guess you could say I am a ‘Gold Star’ grandson.”
Avery’s grandfather, Henry Sollet Wygant, commanded the destroyer USS Turner and was killed Jan. 3, 1944.
Family members of Andrews gathered at a tribute table of photographs, awards and decorations, flags and memorabilia that chronicled Andrews’ adventurous life.
Andrews, who died age 98, on Jan. 11, was the triple crown of Marine Corps living history. Andrews was Marine infantry, the heart of the Corps. He was also a World War II combat veteran who served in combat with the legendary Lewis “Chesty” Puller.
A veteran of the “Blue Diamond Division,” the 1st Marine Division, Andrews was one of the fast vanishing population of World War II veterans. Of the 16 million Americans who served in WWII, about 119,000 remained alive in 2023.
Andrews enlisted after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.
“My grandpa did not even have a set of ‘dress blues,’” recalled his grandson, Allen Quinton, 55, of Palmdale. “He was in training or combat practically his entire time in the Marine Corps from the end of 1942 to 1945.”
Andrews served in some of the most bloody and brutal combat of World War II. His baptism of fire arrived with his arrival on New Britain in the Solomon Islands. Sand, rocks, dense jungle with range the Japanese enemy waiting.
They lived for weeks in the jungle, hunting and hunted by Japanese, with raw nature as much an adversary as the enemy, illness taking as many casualties.
Next, came one of the Marines’ bloodiest island fights, ranking with Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
The Marines landed on Peleliu in September 1944. The National Museum of the Marine Corps called it “the bitterest battle of the war for the Marines.” What had been briefed as a four-day assault of the small island became a battle of more than two months, with more than 2,000 Marines killed and 10,000 wounded.
Japanese dead numbered more than 10,000 with few prisoners taken, according to official histories.
In November, Andrews was honored at the Veterans Military Ball, and Quinton said, “We had a beautiful birthday on Thanksgiving. He turned 98, and had cake.” Quinton added, “Seven days before he left us, he said, ‘I’m ready to go.’ ”
Speaking to members of veteran organizations across the Antelope Valley, Quinton said, “He wanted everybody to have a party, to raise a glass, and just enjoy themselves.”
The veteran’s son, Larry Andrews, told the gathering that “They are not called ‘The Greatest Generation’ for nothing … they saved the free world.”
Dennis Anderson is a licensed clinical social worker at High Desert Medical Group. An Army paratrooper veteran who covered the Iraq War for the Antelope Valley Press, he serves as Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s appointee on the Los Angeles County Veterans Advisory Commission.