Elmo M. Haney

St. Elmo Murray Haney (April 1898 – January 31, 1979) was a senior non-commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps. As a veteran of many early campaigns in the Marine Corps, he was considered the epitome of the "old breed" Marine and a source of inspiration during the tough battles of the Pacific Campaign in World War II. Author and fellow Marine Eugene Sledge described Haney as "not a man born of woman, but that God had issued him to the Marine Corps."

Early life and education

Haney was born in Chickalah, Arkansas. Before and after his service during World War I, Haney attended the Arkansas State Normal School, a teacher training college, where he played on the baseball team. He later graduated from Chillicothe Business College in Chillicothe, Missouri.

Military career

World War I

Haney enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on July 17, 1918, and trained at Parris Island, South Carolina, and Quantico, Virginia. By October 1918, he had been assigned to the 2nd Separate Machine Gun Battalion at Quantico. Although multiple sources, including Eugene Sledge, claim that Haney saw combat in World War I, the war ended before Haney could be sent to Europe. On May 16, 1919, he was transferred to Marine Barracks in Boston and discharged.

Inter-war period

After teaching school in Arkansas for four years, Haney re-enlisted in the Marine Corps on October 22, 1927, in Kansas City, Missouri. By 1930, he was stationed in Shanghai and played in the outfield for the 4th Marine Regiment baseball team. In 1933, he was transferred from Marine Corps Base San Diego to Marine Barracks Mare Island, also playing on the baseball team there. Haney also saw duty in United States occupation of Nicaragua.

World War II

Before the official American entry into World War II, Haney participated in the Allied occupation of Iceland in mid-1941. In early 1942, he was stationed with the aviation technicians of 17th Provisional Marine Company in Belém, Brazil.

In the Pacific Theater, Haney fought in the battles of Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Talasea, and Peleliu with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, where he was one of the oldest to fight in the regiment. Haney held the rank of platoon sergeant and was assigned to company headquarters, serving as a roving senior combat leader in the company.

Eugene Sledge noted many eccentric "old breed" behaviors from Haney, including scrubbing his genitals with a stiff brush, field stripping and cleaning his rifle compulsively, talking to himself, and being "obsessed with bayoneting the enemy." Sledge witnessed Haney, a non-commissioned officer, angrily throw coral gravel into the face of a second lieutenant, furiously berating him for not keeping his pistol pointed downrange during a firing exercise. During battle, Sledge described Haney as "everywhere at once, correcting mistakes and helping out." A ''Collier's'' magazine article chronicling the Marines' action at Cape Gloucester called Haney "a leathery little man, a stickler for discipline, as rigid as a ramrod, a man who knows the book backward."

At the Battle of Peleliu, Haney rallied his Marines as they got bogged down and kept them moving forward. At the conclusion of the fighting, Sledge asked Haney what he thought of the battle as they shared a cigarette, looking at Peleliu from their ship's railing:

Haney shipped out of Peleliu on November 29, 1944, and was transferred stateside after being promoted to gunnery sergeant. He retired from active duty in October 1947 at the rank of technical sergeant.

Silver Star citation

At the Battle of Cape Gloucester, Haney received a Silver Star for heroic actions against the enemy, carrying ammunition to the front lines during the thickest of the fighting for Walt's Ridge. The citation reads:

Death and legacy

Ethel, Haney's wife, died on July 14, 1972, in Bentonville, Arkansas. Haney died January 31, 1979, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and was buried in Benton County Memorial Cemetery in Rogers, Arkansas.

In 2010, Haney was portrayed by actor Gary Sweet in three episodes of the HBO miniseries ''The Pacific''. Haney's character in the series was built largely from recollections in Eugene Sledge's memoir '' With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa''.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Haney, Elmo
1898 births
1979 deaths
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II
Chillicothe Business College alumni
People from Yell County, Arkansas
Recipients of the Silver Star
United States Marine Corps non-commissioned officers
Military personnel from Arkansas