Dickens’s great admonition to all writers, “Make me see.” —David McCullough

The hospitality, modesty of their combined life and his service; the superb black coffee. To be invited into their Westfield home of the McCoids for an interview about the Highland Country Club golf course and area history for a feature story decades ago. Then a tour by the late Col. McCoid, in his vehicle. And walking the grounds where the caddyshack once stood. A small orb rolling down the hill, the core of a golfball. Fortuitous. But the best is a recording made with his permission, preserving that day and his words. How spectacular is that?

He did not speak about any of his accomplishments, which is astounding in retrospect.

[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page 288] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

IN MEMORY OF COLONEL (RETIRED) CHESTER BAILEY McCOID

HON. IKE SKELTON of Missouri in the House of Representatives. Monday, January 31, 2000.

Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, it is with deep sadness that I inform the House of the death of Colonel (Retired) Chester Bailey McCoid, United States Army, of Westfield, Connecticut. He was 77.

Colonel McCoid, the son of the late Colonel Chester B. McCoid and the late Florence Addis, was born on July 31, 1922. He lied about his age at 16 years old to enter the Army. By the time he left the service, he had fought as a combat infantryman in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Colonel McCoid was one of only 294 three-time holders of the prestigious Combat Infantry Badge, awarded for direct engagement with enemy ground forces in a conflict.

During the invasion of Normandy on D-Day in June 1944, Colonel McCoid led a parachute rifle company of the 82nd Airborne Division and later refused to stop fighting after being wounded by an enemy gunner. After fighting in Korea, he was an exchange officer with the United States Navy for four years and he served as a member of the Army General Staff at the Pentagon. In 1966, Colonel McCoid began serving the first of three tours in Vietnam for a total of 51 months spread over the next seven years. He was Deputy Commander of the Independent 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division and commanded the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (airmobile) while in the Southeast Asia theater. In an unusual assignment heading the American Element of The Four Party Military Commission, Region Two, he oversaw the United States' interests in negotiations with the representatives of the Communists and South Vietnam to end the war. Colonel McCoid left for the United States on March 29, 1973, the last ground soldier to serve outside Saigon in the Vietnam War.

In his 34 years of dedicated service, Col McCoid received the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, five Legions of Merit, five Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts. He was also decorated by France twice and eight times by the Republic of Vietnam. He graduated from the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island, and the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Speaker, Chester McCoid was a professional soldier and great American. I know the Members of the House will join me in extending heartfelt condolences to his family: his wife of more than 54 years, Dorothy M. Jamison McCoid; his two sons, Chester B. McCoid III and Scott C. McCoid; his two daughters, Maureen Kennedy and Naomi Litecky; his brother and two sisters; and seven grandchildren.

Source: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRECB-2000-pt1/html/CRECB-2000-pt1-Pg288-3.htm.

____________________

Exceptional.

“After Chet's death in 2000, Dot continued to serve, with her youngest son deploying six times to include a stint in Afghanistan. Dot marked 75 years of service to the nation as both an Army wife and mother. A distinction rarely matched.”

Dorothy McCoid Obituary McCoid, Dorothy Margaret Jamison
Dorothy McCoid, 96, died at West Friendship, Maryland on Thursday, January 17, 2019. Dorothy or “Dot” as she liked to be called is the widow of Colonel Chester Bailey McCoid and lived in the Westfield District of Middletown for forty years.

“Born in Limavady, Northern Ireland on June 17, 1922, Dot grew up on a farm during the Depression and graduated with honors from agricultural college. Serving on Saint John's Ambulance, she witnessed the bombing of Belfast during the Blitz in World War Two. Because of wartime shortages she once rowed a dingy across the mile wide Magilligan Straights to smuggle flour and sugar from what was then the Irish Free State. This was to enable the baking of scones for tea.
The McCoids, married for 54 years, met at a dance in Coleraine, Northern Ireland during the build-up to D-Day.”

……………………

From FB: Middlesex County Historical Society May 31, 2021 · In honor of Memorial Day: a guest post by Scott McCoid

Trinkets In An Old Man’s Dresser

“I found this photograph when clearing out my father’s top dresser drawer. It was there with the old zippo lighters, tie clasps, passports and other memorable trinkets. I suppose most people have a similar drawer. Six decades on this photo was in that drawer, not buried in a photo album in the attic.

“In 1938, then 16, my father Chester McCoid was a chemistry student at Woodrow Wilson High School in Middletown CT. At some point during his studies the chemistry teacher, a Platoon Sergeant in the local National Guard unit, asked a simple question, “do you want to pass this class?” And with that began a 35 year military career. [For Colonel Chester Bailey McCoid's
2000 obituary, see: https://www.courant.com/…/hc-xpm-2000-01-04-0001071687…]

“In the late 1930s a soldier would receive a bonus for getting a friend to enlist into the National Guard. My father managed to get five of his friends to enlist. Among them were his brother Jack McCoid, Al Rasch and Warren Brainerd. The other names are lost to me. Presumably, he neglected to tell his friends about the bonus, as had the chemistry teacher before him.

“After the onset of hostilities in Europe and for that matter Asia, the National Guard was mobilized on 24 February 1941. This nine months before Pearl Harbor. As things go they did not stay together. In my father’s case, he went off to Officer Candidate School and then became a paratrooper. Jack McCoid became an Artilleryman.

“Warren Edward Brainerd stayed with B-Co 169th Infantry throughout the war. Aside from leave in late 1941, he never came home. He never attended high school graduation. He never got married. His record of service was burned in the 1973 Department of Defense Records Archive fire. With the passing of time, the threads connecting his kin folk to Westfield in Middletown have dissolved. And now he is only a name on a stone in front of the fire house and a picture from my father’s dresser.

“Because he stayed with Company B 1 battalion 169th infantry throughout the war, we can trace his service indirectly through the unit history. The 169th Infantry was heavily engaged through much of the war as part of the 43rd Infantry Division. Warren saw combat at New Georgia, New Guinea and the Philippines. Along the way he earned the Silver Star for combat valor.

“On 1 March 1945 on the island of Luzon in the Republic of the Philippines, the 169th relieved elements of the 40th Infantry Division near Clark Field and Fort Stotsenburg. The regiment was ordered to attack Hill 1750, but was thwarted by strong Japanese resistance until 6 March. The men then captured a nearby hill, Bald Hill, and held it against several enemy counterattacks on 9–10 March. On the night of 9 March 1945 on Bald Hill the regiment suffered light casualties during those counter attacks: eight killed and 21 wounded. Warren was one of those eight.

“Six decades on, my father kept this picture close.

“Liveth Forevermore.”

…………

And this, learned many years after that interview and that guided tour; Bell Street and the area.

From 2016:

VIETNAM

Last U.S. combat flag from Vietnam War to be auctioned

by Paul Bedard, Washington Secrets Columnist Washington Examiner

May 20, 2016 08:23 AM

The last American combat flag used in the Vietnam War, held by an Army officer who oversaw the final talks between North and South Vietnamese leaders, is heading to auction.

Army. Col. Chester Bailey McCoid took it with him when he became the last combat soldier to leave DaNang. He was a celebrated soldier who lied about his age to join the Army during World War II and he also served in the Korean War.

The auction from Alexander Historical Auctions is set for May 24-25, live and online, comes as President Obama is planning to be the first U.S. president since the end of the war to visit Vietnam.

Bill Panagopulos, president of Alexander, called the flag “a historic relic from a war which still stirs controversy at its very mention.” He expects it to sell for $10,000-$50,000.

From his online catalog description:

The flag is in excellent condition. This flag was returned to the U.S. By Colonel Chester Bailey McCoid (1923-2000) who had a life-long and very distinguished career with the 82nd and 101st Airborne. Wounded before even leaving his aircraft on D-Day, he nevertheless parachuted with his men to fulfill his mission. He later served in Korea, as an exchange officer with the Navy, and on the General Staff at the Pentagon before being posted to Vietnam in 1966 where he would ultimately spend 51 months over three tours. He would command 101st Airborne airmobile cavalry and advise generals before heading the American Element of the Four Party Military Commission (Region Two), overseeing American interests in negotiations between all parties to the conflict and the American withdrawal from Vietnam. On March 29, 1973 Col. McCoid left Vietnam, the last ground force soldier to serve in the field (outside Saigon) in that country.

Here is the link to the original story with images.
…………….

Editor's note: There is a book by Rev. Mark Jette about the history of golf courses (some gone) in Meriden and the region. Coming up next, about the long-vanished Highland Country Club. A portion originally written in 1998 for a feature story in the Record-Journal; one of a series approved by features editor Phyllis Donovan.

Col. McCoid also recalled working in the brick yard nearby when he was a boy, turning the bricks to dry. Navigating electrical cords on the ground. Still think of this when passing what was Cucia Park and is now the Middletown Armed Forces Reserve Center on Smith Street, Middletown, CT. The made-of-brick homes on Middle Street.

Paddock boots started a conversation about horses.