Winter 2021 Militaria & Collectibles Auction
Lot 157:
Army Brigadier General Nathan C. Vail Lot. You will receive the following items. 29th Infantry Brigade Certificate with attached Patch and Pin, Promotion Documents to include Second Lieutenant (1955), (2) First Lieutenant (1958), Captain (1962), (8) Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI) pins, Operation Backbreaker Certificate (1963), 8th Infantry Division Infantry Leaders Course Certificate (1954) signed by Major General John A. Dabney, and 4 photos. Even though the overall condition is good, some documents are missing some pieces due to age. Nathan Columbus Vail rose quickly through the ranks, from second lieutenant (promoted January 31 1955) to Captain in the Regular Army on July 8, 1962. He was a part of the 29th infantry which was instituted on January 15, 1959 at Honolulu. It was the largest unit of the Hawaiian National Guard and was ordered into federal service on May 13, 1968 to serve in Vietnam. Vail is mentioned in ‘Into Cambodia’ by Keith Nolan, an account of the 1970 springtime campaigns by the Americans in South Vietnam and Cambodia. On May 24, Colonel Vail arrived near Thein Ngon, where the Triple Deuce (who joined the 25th Infantry, 3rd Brigade in August 1967) was resting. Vail was quickly assessed as tough, brash and egocentric, a paratrooper who was a stickler for conventional doctrine. On May 25, he led the Alpha, Bravo and Charlie battalions of the Triple Deuce back in Cambodia. In 1973, Vail was a director of the leadership department at the Infantry School located at Fort Benning, Georgia. He is identified in the ‘Infantry’ booklet, dated June 1974 (Volume 64, no. 3). Following his service, Vail participated in Tom Philpotts ‘Glory Denied’ an oral history regarding Jim Thompson, Americas longest-held POW. Thompsons first assignment after returning home was at Fort Benning, where he and Vail were on-post neighbors for one year. Later in his career, Vail became the Commander of the 25th Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade of the Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, where he aided the readiness of the infantry. He also played a role in helping Colonel Ellsworth M. Bush creation of ‘One Army’ in Hawaii. Eventually, Vail was promoted to Brigadier General.
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