This Military Service Page was created/owned by
SSgt Michael Frederick
to remember
Marine MTSgt Elmo Haney (Pop).
If you knew or served with this Marine and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Home Town Magazine
Last Address Benton County Memorial Park Rogers Benton County Arkansas, USA
Date of Passing Jan 13, 1979
Location of Interment Benton County Memorial Park - Rogers, Arkansas
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Actually, born as St. Elmo M Haney "Pop", was born in Magazine, Yell Arkansas, to Albert S. Haney and Mary Haney. He was the grandson of Henry Haney a confederate veteran. He had two sisters, Georgia Cowger of Kansas City, MO and Geneva Virginia White of Bella Vista.
Marine Master Sargent St. Elmo Murray Haney "Pop", served with great distinction through our worst wars, WW1 and WWII. Master Sargent Haney during WWI, then a Corporal in a heavy machine gun unit fought in places in France and at the famed battle of Belleau Wood, against a heavy German fighting force. At that time, he was serving in K (King) Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines (there were no divisions at the time). He left the service in 1921, while stationed at Boston Navy Yard to teach school in Arkansas for four years. He reentered the service in 1927 in San Diego California. By WWII he reenlisted and was attached to K/3/5 (his original assignment during WWI), being considered "The Old Breed" he commanded Marines in the field of the South Pacific fighting the Japanese Empire. He fought in the campaigns of Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester (where his valor earned him the Silver Star) and Peleliu. He was a man that had the respect of his Marines.
After coming home from the war, he went to school and became a graduate of Cilicothe Business College in Missouri and attended Hendrix College. He settled to Bentonville, Arkansas and in 1949 married Ethel Taletha Tirey. Ethel Haney died in 1972. He attended Bentonville Church of Christ and was where he lived for 30 years until his death.
Master Sargent St. Elmo Murray Haney was a character recently depicted in the HBO mini-series "The Pacific" referred to as "Gunny". From those who served with Haney, it has been confirmed that how you saw him portrayed on screen was exactly the man and Marine he was.
I am currently getting more information on this great Marine and will update as I get more of the information.
Below is his following citation for his Silver Star that he was awarded in WWII:
Silver Star - Awarded for actions during the World War II
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Platoon Sergeant St. Elmo M. Haney (MCSN: 131228), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with the FIRST Marine Division in action against enemy Japanese forces on Cape Gloucester, New Britain on January 10, 1944. While our forces were engaged in bitter hand-to-hand combat defending a vital ridge, Platoon Sergeant Haney courageously led an ammunition carrying party through dark jungle undergrowth and driving rain to deliver supplies to our front lines, arriving five minutes before the last desperate counter attack when one platoon was completely out of ammunition and the entire line was low. By his expeditious delivery of the urgently needed supplies, he enabled our units to defend their position successfully. L Platoon Sergeant Haney's daring initiative and selfless devotion to duty in the face of grave peril were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
General Orders: Commander 7th Fleet: Serial 0853
Action Date: January 10, 1944
Service: Marine Corps
Rank: Platoon Sergeant
Division: 1st Marine Division
Other Comments:
Described in Eugene Sledge's book, With the Old Breed: On Peleliu and Okinawa and portrayed in the HBO mini-series, "The Pacific."
World War I/Champagne-Marne Campaign/Battle of Chateau-Thierry
From Month/Year
July / 1918
To Month/Year
July / 1918
Description The Battle of Château-Thierry was fought on July 18, 1918 and was one of the first actions of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) under General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing. It was a battle in World War I as part of the Second Battle of the Marne, initially prompted by a German offensive launched on 15 July against the AEF, an expeditionary force consisting of troops from both the Army and Marine Corps, and the newest troops on the front.
On the morning of 18 July 1918, the French (some of them colonial) and American forces between Fontenoy and Château-Thierry launched a counter-assault under the overall direction of Allied généralissime Ferdinand Foch against the German positions. This assault on a 40 km (25 mi) wide front was the first in over a year. The American army played a role fighting for the regions around Soissons and Château-Thierry, in collaboration with predominantly French forces. The allied forces had managed to keep their plans a secret, and their attack at 04:45 took the Germans by surprise when the troops went "Over the Top" without a preparatory artillery bombardment, but instead followed closely behind a rolling barrage which began with great synchronized precision. Eventually, the two opposing assaults (lines) inter-penetrated and individual American units exercised initiative and continued fighting despite being nominally behind enemy lines.
