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Dickey, Dean Monroe, LTC.
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Contact Info
Home Town Millen
Last Address Millen
Date of Passing Nov 14, 1979
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Lieutenant Colonel Dean Monroe Dickey, U.S. Army, Chemical Corps. LTC Dickey served both the U.S. Army Chemical Corps and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) fields with distinction during his nearly 27 years of active duty. He served in the Chemical Corps from 1 August 1949 until his retirement on 8 October 1970.
I first met LTC Dickey, my commander, during my tour at Technical Escort Unit (TEU), Edgewood Arsensal, Maryland, from May 1970 to January 1971. I was impressed with his vast knowledge of chemical and biological agents and munitions. LTC Dickey took me, a young Specialist Fourth Class, under his wing and made an impact upon my Army career and life. For that, I am ever in debt to him.
During LTC Dickey’s career in the Chemical Corps his assignment included being the Chemical Supply Officer of Technical Escort Detachment (TED), from August 1949 to September 1951. LTC Garland White, Commander of the TED, noticed 2LT Dickey’s interest in EOD and designated him as officer in charge of a seven-man team with the mission of clearing an area on Gunpowder Neck of Edgewood Arsenal, known today as Old “O” Field. Old “O” Field was basically a chemical munitions landfill. LTC Dickey would spend his whole career attempting to clean up this chemical munition dump.
As a first lieutenant, Dickey was one of the few men who survived a nerve agent poisoning. He became the Chemical Corps’ first serious nerve agent casualty after an accidental exposure. The incident occurred on the morning of 12 November 1950, during an experiment with liquid nerve agent at the Skull Valley Indian Reservation near Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. The site was 17 miles from the nearest building, 40 miles from the nearest inhabitation, and they were in their tenth week of testing. This particular test involved spraying a circular patch of ground with nerve agent and then spraying gasoline over it. The gasoline was ignited with a thermite grenade. The goal was to determine how much nerve agent can be eliminated by using that type of decontamination procedure.
1LT Dickey was in the contaminated area for four hours when he noticed the first signs of exposure. Two weeks later he woke up in Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. The doctor’s report indicated that the decontamination truck had to stop three times so a doctor could give him atropine injections. Atropine syringes, oxygen, and artificial respiration were given to him during the first 48 hours to save his life. He was seriously over medicated with atropine, which affected him for the rest of his life. He could only sleep for two to four hours a night. It is believed that the nerve gas either leaked through his protective mask or a hole in his boots.
From 1951 to 1954, CPT Dickey served in the 10th Chemical Service Company and the Japan Chemical Depot, Far Eastern Command (FECOM), Japan where he served in the position of Motor Transportation Officer and as the commander of the Chemical Service Unit. During his tour in Japan he went to Korea during the Korean War on temporary duty.
CPT Dickey was reassigned back to TED in March 1954 and served there until May 1958. He volunteered for formal Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) training at the U.S. Naval School, Indian Head, Maryland, which he completed in January 1955.
In June 1958 he was assigned as the chemical liaison officer and instructor at the U.S. Naval EOD School, Indian Head, Maryland, and served there until June 1963. From June 1963 to February 1965, he served as the EOD Staff Officer, U.S. Army Headquarters, Army Material Command, EOD Division, Building T-7, Gravely Point, Washington, D.C.
In February 1965, MAJ Dickey returned to the Technical Escort Unit (TEU) as the unit commander, a position he held until July 1970. His administration marked a period of tremendous activity and growth at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. LTC Dickey was directly responsible for expanding the scope of the TEU mission. In his first two months of his command he oversaw 20 major moves of chemical agents. Those 20 moves included nearly 200 railcars of chemical munitions. He oversaw the efforts of over 80 officers, directing 543 escort missions to Southeast Asia for the newly developed Aerial Mine (also called gravel or button mine) XM22, XM7, XM40E5, XM41, XM41E1, XM44, XM45E1, and XM65, that were dispersed from the SUU-41A/A and SUU-41B/A dispensers. This mission earned the unit the Meritorious Unit Commendation First Oak Leaf Cluster.
During his tour, LTC Dickey oversaw Operation CHASE (Cut Holes and Sink’Em) 8, 10, 11, and 12, a Department of Defense program that involved the disposal of unwanted munitions at sea from May 1964 into the early 1970s. The disposal program involved loading old munitions onto ships which were then slated to be scuttled once they were up to 250 miles off shore. While most of the sinking involved ships loaded with conventional munitions, there were four which involved chemical weapons.
Under LTC Dickey’s influence, civilians were incorporated into the organization to give the unit continuity. His vast knowledge of both chemical and ordnance operations was unequaled. Individuals of all ranks went to him for counsel. He was demanding, yet not overbearing, as he knew how to bring out the best in his subordinates by developing confidence in their abilities. His total commitment to his job and his devoted service to the military community rank him among the greatest in the field of military professionalism.
Upon retirement, LTC Dickey was awarded the Legion of Merit for meritorious service and was commended for having a “profound understanding of the Center’s requirements and ability to communicate these needs to his subordinates.” Following his military retirement, he worked as a civilian project engineer for the U.S. Army Toxic and Hazardous Materials Agency (now the Army Environmental Center). In this capacity, Dickey was involved with Operation RED HAT in 1971, the relocation of 12,650 tons of toxic chemical agent and munitions from Okinawa, Japan to Johnston Atoll in the North Pacific Ocean.
Prior to becoming an officer in the Chemical Corps, LTC Dickey served in the Infantry during World War II. After completing basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1939, Dickey was assigned to Fort Barrancas, Florida, in 1940. He was an original member of the famous 23rd (Americal) Infantry Division and was one of the last original members to retire from active duty. He served in the Pacific during World War II and was among the first troops on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, where he served as a machine gunner and platoon leader.
Technician Fourth Grade (T/4) Dickey received the Silver Star Medal on Guadalcanal for his actions in repelling a Japanese force that was attacking the aid station on 14 January 1943. Dickey was getting a tooth removed at the time of the attack. His citation reads, “He ran through intense enemy fire to attack an enemy force with (a) bayonet. He killed seven of the enemy thus saving the lives of his wounded comrades. He voluntarily assisted in their evacuation.” His swift action prevented the aid station from being overrun. He was moved from there to a classified assignment which took him to Africa and later Holland.
Spouse: Mary Joseph “Johnson” Dickey (Passed). Children: Dean Eric Dickey, Marcia Mary Cole, Vanessa Alicia William, Kevin Stuart Dickey, Karen Leah Dennis, Kirk Philip Dickey, and Keith Norman Dickey.
Other Comments:
Buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, Section 68, Site 4707, along with his wife Mary Joseph "Johnson" Dickey.
This remembrance profile is maintained by Mike R. Vining, SGM USA (Retired).
Email: sgmmvining@gmail.com
Korean War/UN Defensive (1950)
From Month/Year
June / 1950
To Month/Year
September / 1950
Description
June to September 1950. Communist efforts to divide the South Koreans against themselves having failed, the North Koreans decided to attempt their subjugation by military force. At 0400, Sunday, 25 June 1950 (Korean Time), North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel into the Republic and launched their main effort toward the South Korean capital city of Seoul, down the P'och'on-Uijongbu and Yonch'on-Uijongbu corridors. Strong attacks were also directed through Kaesong toward Munsan on the right, and toward Ch'unch'on on the left. On the west coast the Ongjin Peninsula was quickly captured. On the east coast a land column and a small seaborne detachment met near Kangnung.
By 28 June Seoul had fallen, the North Koreans had closed up along the Han River to a point about 20 miles east of Seoul, and had advanced as far as Samchok on the meat coast. By 4 July enemy forces were along the line Suwon-Wonju-Samchok. In withdrawing, the Republic of Korea ("ROK") forces had suffered such serious losses that their attempts to regroup and retain order were almost futile.
On 25 June 1950 the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling "for immediate cessation of hostilities" and "upon the authorities of North Korea to withdraw forthwith their armed forces to the thirty-eighth parallel." When the North Koreans failed to accede to these demands, the Security Council passed a second resolution recommending "that the Members of the United Nations furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack and restore the international peace and security in the area."
President Truman announced on 27 June 1950 the t he had ordered American air and naval forces to give cover and support to the South Korean troops (UN Defensive-27 June to 15 September 1950). On the 28th he authorized the Commander in Chief Far East to use certain supporting ground units in Korea, and authorized the U.S. Air Force to conduct missions on specific targets in North Korea. On the 30th the President further authorized the C. in C. Far East to use all forces available to him to repel the invasion, and ordered a naval blockade of the entire coast of Korea.
A Security Council resolution of 7 July 1950 recommended the establishment of a unified command in Korea and requested the United States to designate a commander of these forces. On 8 July President Truman announced the appointment of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur as Commander in Chief, United Nations Command (CINCUNC). On 14 July President Rhee placed all ROK security forces under the United Nations commander, an act which consolidated the anti-Communist forces under the United Nations Commend for the purpose of repelling the Communist aggression.
The U.S. forces at MacArthur's disposal included the four divisions in Japan-the 1st Cavalry Division and the 7th, 24th, and 25th Infantry Divisions-and the 29th Regimental Combat Team in Okinawa. The divisions were lacking a third of their infantry and artillery units and almost all their armor units. Existing units were far under strength. Weapons and equipment were war-worn relics of World War II, and ammunition reserves amounted to only a 45-day supply. None of the divisions had reached full combat efficiency, since intensive training had been largely neglected because of occupation duties.
Initial U.S. strategy, dictated by the speed of the North Korean drive and the state of American unpreparedness, was one of trading space for time. On 2 July 1950 Task Force Smith, composed of two rifle companies and a few supporting units of the 24th Division, was flown from Japan to Pusan and moved by train and truck to defensive positions near Osan, 30 miles south of Seoul. Its mission was to fight a delaying action to gain time for the movement of more troops from Japan. On 5 July this small force was attacked by a North Korean division supported by 30 tanks and compelled to withdraw, after a stubborn defense, with heavy losses of men and equipment.
By this time the remaining elements of the 24th Division had reached Korea and were in defensive positions along the Kum River, north of Taejon and 60 miles south of Osan. ROK elements held positions to the east, some 50 miles above Taegu. By 15 July the 25th Division had arrived in Korea and was positioned east of the 24th Division. The 1st Cavalry Division arrived and closed in the P'chang-dong area on 18-19 July. Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker, Commander of the U.S. Eighth Army, had been placed in command of all U.S. ground troops in Korea on 13 July, and, at the request of President Rhee, of the South Korean Army as well. As the ground troops of other U.N. members reached Korea, they also were placed under Walker's command.
North Korean forces crossed the Kum River and captured Taejon, an important communications center, on 20 July. U.S. and ROK troops continued to withdraw steadily to the southeast under constant North Korean pressure. During the withdrawal our Army's 3.5-inch rocket launcher was used (for the first time on a battlefield) with highly successful results against North Korean tanks. It was in this period that the 24th Division commander, Maj. Gen. William F. Dean, was reported missing when North Korean tanks broke through the forward unite of his division. It was learned later that he had been captured about 35 miles south of Taejon on 25 August.
The final days of July 1950 witnessed a series of hard-fought battles all along the 200-mile front of the United Nations perimeter. The northern front, a line running inland from Yongdok through Andong, Yech'on, Hamch'ong, and Hwanggan to Kumch'on, was defended at critical points by ROK troops and the U.S. 25th Division. The 1st Cavalry Division was battling on the west flank to keep the Yongdong-Kumch'on-Taegu rail line open. To block the southwestern approaches to Pusan, which the enemy was threatening, the 29th RCT advanced to Chinju, but was ambushed by a North Korean division and suffered heavy losses. Enemy pressure continued from Yosu and Chinju in the southwest to Kwan-ni on the Taejon-Taegu railroad, thence northeast through Yech'on to Yongdok on the Sea of Japan.
By the beginning of August the U.S. and ROK forces had withdrawn behind the Naktong River, a position which the U.N. Command was determined to hold. The area held in southeastern Korea resembled a rectangle, the southwestern side of which was guarded by the 24th and 25th Divisions to prevent a breakthrough to Masan. The 1st Cavalry Division was deployed on the western front to guard the Taegu railroad approaches. The northern front was defended by ROK divisions from a point south of Hamch'ang to a point just south of Yongdok on the east coast.
Early in August General Walker declared the strategy of trading space for time to be at an end, and ordered a final stand along this 140-mile perimeter around the port of Pusan, which had become a well-stocked Eighth Army supply base and the hub of a rail and road net leading to the battle front. By now the enemy's lengthened supply lines were under constant air attack, enemy naval opposition had been wiped out, and the blockade of the Korean coast had been clamped tight.
During the next month and a half, fourteen North Korean divisions dissipated their strength in piecemeal attacks against the Pusan perimeter. Walker, by rapidly shuttling his forces to meet the greatest threats, inflicted heavy casualties on the North Koreans and prevented serious penetrations. The enemy, determined to annihilate the Eighth Army and take Taegu and Pusan, massed for a two-pronged attack across the Naktong, one prong from the west and the other from the southwest. The principal actions were fought along the river from Waegwan south through Song-dong and Ch'irhyon-ni to the junction of the Naktong and Nam Rivers, and southwest toward Haman and Chinju.
While U.S. troops were fighting along the banks of the Naktong, other battles took place in the southwest. A veteran North Korean division, which had been concentrated for an assault upon Susan and Pusan, was hit by Task Force Kean. Named for the 25th Division Commander, the Task Force was composed of the 5th RCT, the 35th RCT of the 25th Division, the 1st Marine Brigade, and a ROK battalion. It opened a strong counteroffensive on 7 August 1950 to secure the left funk of the perimeter and prevent the enemy from driving on Pusan. Overcoming initial heavy resistance, it defeated the North Koreans and by 11 August commanded the high ground to the east of Chinju.
On the eastern flank of the perimeter the town of Yongdok was lost by ROK units, some of which then had to be evacuated by sea. On 12 August the port of P'chang-dong was attacked by enemy forces led by tanks which mounted screaming sirens. This force poured through a break in the R0K lines and linked up with North Korean advance agents in the port. These agents, disguised as innocent-looking refugees, carried mortars, machineguns, and other weapons in oxcarts, on A-frames and on their persons. While a force of North Koreans took P'chang-dong, the adjoining airstrip, of great importance to the U.N. forces as a base for tactical aircraft. On 13 August the danger was so pressing that all aircraft were evacuated. Within the next five days, however, ROK troops and a small U.S. task force recaptured P'chang-dong and returned it to U.N. control.
During this time a much larger force of North Koreans breached the U.N. positions at some paints in the Naktong River sector, but failed in their attempt to capture the rail junctions at Taegu. To hold a line near the river, Walker rearranged the defensive positions of the 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions, the 1st Cavalry Division, and the 1st Marine Brigade, deploying them in a manner which assigned combat zones of 15-30 miles to each division.
The enemy, continuing his efforts to crack the perimeter, massed several divisions above Waegwan to assault Taegu from the north. Despite a bombing raid in which U.N. air forces dropped 850 tons of bombs on the suspected enemy concentration area, the North Koreans launched a powerful attack which carried through the ROK positions and threatened Taegu. Stalwart defense and swift countermeasures in this area on 19 August saved Taegu from almost certain capture, parried the enemy 's three-pronged thrust at the city, and stopped the momentum of the North Korean offensive.
Shortly before midnight on 31 August enemy forces again attacked the Naktong River Line, this time in tremendous force. Disregarding very heavy casualties from U.N. air force bombing and strafing, they mounted a strong offensive against the entire Pusan beachhead from Haman in the south to P'chang-dong in the northern sector. The port of P'chang-dong was captured on 6 September, but again the Communists failed to capture the airfield. Waegwan and the "walled city" of Kasan were lost as the U.N. defenders fell back for a last ditch stand at Taegu. Between 4 and 11 September the enemy made important gains along the Naktong in some of the heaviest fighting of the war; but U.N. forces blunted the drive on Taegu and began to show slow progress of their own against very strong enemy resistance.
On the southern front the North Korean offensive, which opened with a massive artillery barrage near Haman, struck the 25th Division with tanks and waves of infantry, imperiling its forward positions. However, although the enemy had made impressive gains along the U.N. perimeter and General Walker still had to shuttle his units from one critical area to another, a strong beachhead remained in the hands of the U.N. Command.
By mid-August the offensive capability of the Eighth Army had been augmented by the arrival of the U.S. 2d Division, the 1st Marine Brigade, four battalions of medium tanks from the United States, and the 5th RCT from Hawaii. Before the month was out, five ROK divisions were restored to some semblance of order, and Great Britain committed the 27th Brigade from Hong Kong. With the arrival of these reinforcements an attempt could now be made to end the U.N. withdrawal and to begin a U.N. offensive in southeastern Korea.