Hair, Calvin, Capt

Calvin Thomas Hair was born March 12, 1943 in Beaver, Utah to Emma Burke and Harry Calvin Hair- the oldest of ten siblings. He died June 28, 2008 in his home in Cedar City, Utah.

Cal grew up in Cedar City, where he attended school and was very active in the local sports programs of Little League and Pony League baseball. He played football and baseball at Cedar High under Coach Decker, and at CSU/(SUU) under Coach Osbourne.

In 1964 Cal married his high school sweetheart Ruth Cooper in the St. George Temple and moved to Salt Lake City to complete his education at the University of Utah. Upon graduation he accepted a commission as a First Lieutenant in the Marine Corp; completing two tours of duty in Viet Nam where he was awarded a Navy Commendation Medal in 1967 for heroic achievement while serving as an Artillery Forward Observer with the Twelfth Marines Third Division and a Bronze Star for meritorious service in connection with combat operations while serving with the First Marine Division in 1970-71.

Leaving the Marine Corp in 1974, he went to work for Mobil Oil Corp for 27 years as a Marketing Rep in the greater Los Angeles area, retiring back to Cedar City in 2003. Calvin loved the mountains, National Parks, rock formations, and color of Southern Utah. Wherever he was living, he would return yearly to hunt, fish and hike in his beloved home state of Utah.

Calvin was a devoted husband and father, and an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served many years working with the young men in the Church (twice as a Bishop). He loved the Youth in the Church and was personally greatly encouraged by their strength of character and fearless examples. He was a rock of steadiness and humor to his family, and a much loved brother, husband, father, and favorite uncle to his 46 nieces and nephews.
Calvin is survived by his wife Ruth (Cooper) and two children, Jesse and Karyn (Ashby), his son-in-law William Ashby and grandson Silas, as well as nine brothers and sisters and their spouses: Dixie and Brent Hatch, David and Linda Hair, Roger and Chanda Hair, Marilyn and Eric McClure, Betty and Mike Whitely, Linda and Don Presser, Mike and Michelle Hair, Steve and Joy Hair, and Kristine and Chris Hermansen.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, July 5, 2008 at 11:00 am at the Cedar View Chapel. Visitations will be held on Friday, July 4, 2008 from 6:00-8:00 pm at the Southern Utah Mortuary and again on Saturday, July 5, 2008 from 9:30-10:30 am at the Cedar View Chapel.

Interment will be in the Cedar City Cemetery under the direction of Southern Utah
Mortuary. Online condolences can be sent to www.southernutahmortuary.com.

A veteran's experience, Vietnam 1967
By Jim Jerrell, First Sergeant, Usmc (Ret)
I should like to commemorate Veterans Day by remembering a very gallant Marine Corps Artillery unit, Charlie Battery, First Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, commanded by Capt. Rich Guinn (deceased).
They were a part of the First Provisional Artillery Battalion, an outfit that had been formed to increase the pressure on North Vietnam. On Feb. 26, 1967, the battalion established a fire base near the village of Gio Linh, located about six kilometers southwest of North Vietnam, on the east coast.
The rest of the First Provisional Battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. Bill Rice, USMC (deceased), consisted of an Army 175 Gun Battery, (Bravo Battery, 6th Battalion, 127th Regiment), a Marine Rifle Company (Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, Fourth Marines), two Marine tanks, two quad 50 caliber machine guns (vehicle-mounted), and two twin 40 mm guns. The 175 mm guns were for long-range missions into North Vietnam.
This provisional battalion had the distinction of receiving the first incoming artillery from the NVA, in March and April 1967. The firebase had received approximately 3,000 mortar rounds since first arriving. However, the first artillery attack on March 20 caught us totally by surprise and lasted for more than eight hours. The unit was fairly well bunkered in by this time due to the mortar attacks, but the thing that saved us was that the Marines of Charlie Battery fired counter-battery fire during the attack. They were firing at muzzle flashes, sounds, crater analysis results and gut instincts.
The battery was equipped with World War II vintage 105 mm howitzers of limited range, but were maneuverable and could get into action quickly. The cannoneers had no overhead protection, and many casualties resulted. The NVA had not anticipated this reaction. Subsequent research after the war revealed that the NVA had assembled an 8,000-man force to attack our position following their artillery fire, and as the result of the counter fire, they called off the attack.
On April 27, 1967, another attack took place. Only the NVA had guns with longer range, and our 105s could not reach them. Again, we fired back, and at the end of the attack, Charlie Battery had one serviceable howitzer remaining, resulting in the unit's replacement the following day. Forty-two members of the Battery ultimately received Purple Hearts for wounds incurred at Gio Linh. Two of them were posthumous.
I stay in touch with several of the Marines from Charlie Battery, but our ranks are thinning and things have not gone well with many of them.
I owe a big debt to all of them.