Virgil Duane Deets
"Doc Deets"
US Navy Reserve | Service Number 620 30 54
Virgil Deets was born in Cartersville, Iowa, on November 16, 1919. His parents, Benjamin Franklin (“B.F.”) and Anna (Frosch) Deets, welcomed Virgil as their seventh child; in their 25 years of marriage, they conceived a total of twelve. One of Virgil’s older brothers died in 1928, and Anna followed in 1935. The Deets farm near Rock Falls, Iowa was well-known in Falls Township, where the children attended rural schools. The nearest post office was in Nora Springs (population just over 1,000), and this city was commonly given as the family address.
Virgil – who also went by “Duane” – finished eighth grade in 1934 and began working full time on the family farm. When he registered for Selective Service in July 1941, he was just shy of six feet tall and working as a farmhand in nearby Plymouth. On 27 January 1942, with the country at war, Deets traveled to Des Moines to join the Navy Reserve and was soon training at Great Lakes, Illinois. He elected (or was selected for) additional training at Hospital Corps School, and on 8 May graduated as a member of the school’s largest class up to that time. Alongside 471 men from 37 states, Deets “completed basic training in anatomy, physicology, hygiene and sanitation, first aid, weights and measures, and materia medica during the six-week course.” [1]
On 9 October 1942, Hospital Apprentice Second Class Virgil Deets reported aboard the USS Hugh L. Scott, a troop transport recently acquired by the Navy. The Scott was soon combat loaded with military equipment and a contingent of soldiers; after a period of intensive amphibious training, she departed American waters, bound for action. Once safely at sea, her destination was revealed to soldiers and sailors alike – they were headed for Morocco, to take part in Operation Torch.
Deets’ war nearly came to an end off the coast of North Africa. The Scott unloaded her infantry on 8 November, but had to withdraw to safer waters due to a naval battle off Casablanca. Three days later, as they returned to the transport area at Fédala to unload their cargo, a German U-Boat got through the protective screen and sent three American ships to the bottom. The Scott’s crew spent all night at their battle stations, and all hands wanted to get the unloading completed as quickly as possible.
They weren’t fast enough. A little after 1700 hours, tremendous explosions rocked the Hugh L. Scott from stem to stern. Two torpedoes from the U-130 struck her starboard side, and the transport burst into flames. She foundered within minutes, taking 59 of her crew with her. One of the men plucked from the sea was Virgil Deets; he is recorded aboard the USS Thurston as “survivor of the USS Hugh L. Scott” on 14 November.
Deets and his shipmates were brought back to the United States for their “survivor’s leave.” According to family history, Deets was turned loose to hitchhike home, still wearing a uniform stained with oil from the sunken Scott. He was able to spend the 1942 holiday season with his family in Rock Falls, but received new orders in January 1943. Deets traveled to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for training at Field Medical School. This meant he was bound for duty with the Fleet Marine Force as a combat corpsman. Assigned to the First Separate Battalion (Reinforced) in February, 1943, he quickly became known as “Doc Deets” to the machine gunners of Dog Company’s Third Platoon. He would live and train with them in North Carolina and at Camp Pendleton, California, for the next nine months. In July 1943, he earned his first petty officer’s stripe as a Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class.
At first, all corpsmen were “swabbie doctors” to the Marines and there was considerable friction between the two services. However, rough training eased the tension, and combat erased it completely. Deets treated his first casualties on the island of Namur in February 1944, and stayed with his platoon through the battles of Saipan and Tinian during the summer. He was advanced in rank to Pharmacist’s Mate Second Class, received a Purple Heart, and was recommended for the Bronze Star Medal.[2] Most importantly, he earned the trust and respect of his Marines. Machine gunner Glenn L. Buzzard remembered being treated on Iwo Jima:
There would come a day when Doc Deets couldn’t pull a wounded comrade behind cover. On 1 March 1945, Charlie Company joined in the attack on Iwo’s infamous Meat Grinder complex. The frontal attack was a fiasco; within minutes of jumping off, several Marines were dead and others were downed, calling for a corpsman. One man fell within Deets’ line of sight, in the middle of an open field. Despite shouted warnings from his comrades, Deets ran out into the field to try to treat the wounded man. Dodging fire all the way, he had just reached his buddy when a Japanese round tore through him. For this final act of gallantry, which cost his life, Virgil Deets was awarded a posthumous Silver Star Medal.
Virgil Deets was buried on Iwo Jima; on March 18, 1949, his body was reinterred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. He rests there to this day.
Gallery
[1] “Nora Springs Youth Graduated in Great Lakes Hospital Corps,” The Globe Gazette (Mason City, IA), 9 May 1942.
[2] These decorations are noted in the battalion’s muster roll, but it is not clear what they were for. Deets was not reported as wounded in the musters during 1944; he may have been awarded the Purple Heart for Operation Torch (somewhat delayed) or suffered a minor wound not requiring evacuation. Similarly, it is not known what became of his Bronze Star recommendation, as the medal was evidently not awarded.
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I was just surfing places with the Deets name and came across this. Virgil Duane Deets was my dad’s brother. He died before I was born. Seeing this just gives me goose bumps. this is a great memorial to all these people who served our country.
Hi Leanna – great to hear from you. If your family has any other information you’d like to share on Virgil’s page, please email me at webmaster@ablecompany24.com.
Cheers!
Geoffrey
Virgil was my Uncle. I was born 20 April 1943. This is the most information I have been able to obtain on his service. Thanks to whomever maintains this page.. I am in possession of his awards.
Maurice A Deets SgtMaj USMC Ret.
My father was the oldest of Virgil’s siblings. He told me that after Virgil’s ship was sunk
he was transported to the east coast (possibly New Jersey) and turned loose on leave. All he had was what he was wearing. He hitchhiked home. When they saw him walking up the driveway they thought he was a bum looking for a hand out. He was still wearing the same oil stained uniform that he was pulled out of the water in. My Grandfather bought him some clothes so his uniform could be cleaned. He shipped out to P.I. in the same uniform but it was clean.
The info on his reporting to P.I. was new. I had been told he went to Camp Pendleton after leave. The miss-information is understandable.