By Johnny Woodhouse

Pfc. DeWayne Corbitt grew up in a military family.

His mother and father served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and all three of his older brothers enlisted in the Army during the Vietnam War era.

But Corbitt, a 1967 graduate of Fletcher High School, bucked family tradition when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps in February 1968.

“He loved war movies, westerns and John Wayne,” said Corbitt’s older brother, Dennis, a retired high school teacher who served as an Army medic at Fort Benning, Ga., from 1962-65.

The second youngest of five children, DeWayne Corbitt was 14 when his father, World War II veteran Herbert E. Corbitt, died of cancer at the age of 40.

His mother, Maxine, who served in the Women’s Army Corps, worked as a dietician at Beaches Hospital when the family resided in the 900 block of 13th St. N., in Jacksonville Beach.

Four of the five Corbitt children attended Fletcher High, including Donald Herbert Corbitt, the second oldest, who was stationed in Germany and Korea during his Army service.

Dale Corbitt, a 1966 Fletcher grad, served in Vietnam as a machine gunner with an Armored Cavalry unit.

Frances Corbitt, a 1968 Fletcher grad, played four sports for the Lady Senators and sang in the school chorus.

“Part of her workouts included running knee-deep in the ocean,” said her daughter, Kelly McFarland of Tallahassee.

“All of them loved their time at Fletcher.”

Brothers in Arms

DeWayne Corbitt attended boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., and advanced infantry training at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

In June 1968, before his tour of duty in Vietnam began on Aug. 14, 1968, Corbitt spent a 20-day leave of absence in Jacksonville Beach.

Once overseas, he was assigned to the Marine Corps’ most decorated regiment, the 5th Marines.

During the Tet Offensive, 1st battalion, 5th Marines, engaged in fierce urban combat in the famous Citadel section of the ancient imperial city of Hue.

Corbitt wasn’t the only Jacksonville Beach resident serving overseas that summer. Pfc. William Raymond Gast, who also attended Fletcher, was assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines.

Both Corbitt and Gast were involved in Mameluke Thrust, a 1st Marine Division operation that ran from June-October 1968.

Gast, who joined the Marines in October 1967, and arrived in Vietnam in April 1968, was a prolific letter-writer during his tour of duty.

“It looks like we will be out in the bush from the 25th of August to the 15th of September,” one of his last letters said.

“It will probably be longer. No rest for the Marines.”

In other letters, Gast described his hatred of C-rations and canteen water treated with halazone disinfection tablets. He wrote that he once went 36 days without taking a shower and suffered from trench foot.

“My feet look like death warmed over,” he wrote. “It seems the other branches have it better than the Marines.”

Gast never made it back from his last mission, which was hampered by a Sept. 5 typhoon that swamped much of Quang Nam province where the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines were based.

He was missing in action for three days before his body was recovered. Gast was officially listed as killed in action on Sept. 10, 1968. He was 19.

Brief time in-country

In late August 1968, a platoon in Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, was ambushed near the Song Tinh Yen River. A dozen Marines were killed and another 18 were wounded.

According to his service record, Corbitt was assigned to Delta company, but it’s unknown if the platoon in question was his own.

“I know my Uncle Dale was in ‘Nam from 1968-1969, but my Uncle DeWayne was not there very long,” McFarland said.

“I’m not sure if he had time to write home from the day he landed until the day he was shot by a sniper on patrol.”

Pfc. DeWayne Corbitt was eight days shy of his 20th birthday when he was killed in action on Sept. 17, 1968.

According to a letter dated Sept. 27, 1968, and addressed to Dennis Corbitt, Lt. Col. Richard F. Daley, the commanding officer of 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, said Pfc. DeWayne Corbitt was mortally wounded by enemy small arms fire.

“A medical corpsman rushed to his aid immediately, but his wounds proved too severe, and DeWayne succumbed almost instantly,” the letter read.

“DeWayne was a sincere, hard-working young man who impressed everyone with his eager manner and courteous demeanor. He took great pride in doing every job well and constantly displayed those

qualities of eagerness and self-reliance that gained him the respect of his seniors and contemporaries alike.”

The letter went on to say that a memorial service held in Corbitt’s honor at the battalion chapel was attended by his many friends in the battalion.

The same day that Corbitt died, Sgt. Ray Hayes of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, was killed while leading a squad of Marines on a reconnaissance of the same hostile area.

According to Hayes’ silver star citation, “After penetrating the enemy line and disregarding his own safety, he fearlessly moved about a hazardous area until he had pinpointed the enemy emplacements and located an injured comrade.”

After reporting his tactical observations back to his commanding officer, Hayes, a platoon leader on his second tour of duty in Vietnam, was mortally wounded by enemy machine gun fire “while crossing the dangerous terrain.”

Like Corbitt, Hayes had only been in-country a few weeks before his death.

Buried with Honors

A memorial service for Corbitt was held on Sept. 29, 1968, in the chapel of Giddens-Griffin Funeral Home in Jacksonville Beach. The following day, Giddens-Griffin held a similar service for Gast, whose parents resided across the street from the original Fletcher campus in the 2000 block of 3rd Street North.

Gast is buried at Warren Smith Cemetery in Jacksonville Beach.

Corbitt’s remains were buried alongside his father’s grave at Hancock Cemetery in Fort Meade, Fla.

Dale Corbitt, who was serving in Vietnam at the time of his younger brother’s death and was exposed to the defoliant Agent Orange while overseas, was flown home to attend the funeral service.

He died in 2007 and is buried in the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Fla. Donald Corbitt died in 2019 and is buried in the Jacksonville National Cemetery.

When McFarland and Dennis Corbitt learned that the Fallen Wartime Veterans Street Sign Program has plans to honor the memory of Pfc. DeWayne Corbitt with a special street sign in Jacksonville Beach, they were incredibly pleased.

“I wish my granny (Maxine Corbitt), my mom (Frances Corbitt Burke) and two of my uncles were still alive to see it,” McFarland said. “I feel like this is honoring them as well.”