William Gordon MacLean Jr.

Colonel William Gordon MacLean Jr. USMC (Retired)

Colonel William Gordon MacLean Jr., USMC (Retired), passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by family on Veterans Day, November 11, 2020. Bill was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, and friend who is deeply missed by all who knew him. A veteran of three wars, Bill was 99 years old.

The eldest of four children of William Gordon MacLean and Alice Burgoyne Spencer, Bill was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 24, 1921. His parents were missionaries for the Presbyterian Church, and he spent much of his youth abroad in Colombia and Mexico, becoming fluent in Spanish. He returned to the United States during family sabbaticals and for college, attending Wooster College and the University of Minnesota in Saint Paul where he was on the wrestling team, played basketball and tennis, worked in the local bookstore, and became fascinated by aviation. During those years, he lived with his Spencer family relatives, Uncle Ed, Aunt Terry, and their children, Kathleen and Sandra. He always remembered these years with great fondness and especially his cousin, Sandy, with whom he stayed in touch his entire life.

Bill’s college career was interrupted by the onset of the Second World War. A true patriot, Bill enlisted shortly after Pearl Harbor and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in December 1942, entering on active duty at the newly-established Naval Air Training Center at Corpus Christi, Texas. He was designated a Naval Aviator in January 1943, moving on to training in multi-engine aircraft at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, and then advanced training at Marine Corps Air Station Quantico, Virginia. He deployed to the Pacific theater in early 1944 as the pilot of a PBJ-1J (the Marines’ version of the B-25 “Mitchell” medium bomber), flying close air support, anti-shipping, and night “heckling” missions. Following the Japanese surrender, Bill also served briefly in northern China as the aide-de-camp to Commanding General Louis E. Woods of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. For his service during World War II, Bill was honored to be twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight.

After the war, Bill returned to the States and married Gwendolyn Louise Gilbert in 1946. They had four children: William Gordon III (Bill), Martha Lou (Marcy), Charles Edward (Chuck), and Douglas Gilbert (Doug).

Bill qualified in helicopters in 1951 and deployed to Korea. He served as Executive Officer and then Commanding Officer of Marine Observation Squadron 6 (VMO-6) in support of the 1 st Marine Division, personally flying more than 200 medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) missions. VMO-6 participated in nearly every important mission from the Pusan Perimeter engagement through the landing at Inchon to the capture of Seoul, and later in the Chosin action. While in this assignment, Bill received official recognition for setting up an advance base just behind the front, cutting up to 30 minutes off the time required to fly wounded United Nations troops to field hospitals. This pioneering innovation ultimately resulted in the survival of more than 95 percent of Marines and Soldiers who reached field hospitals alive. To this day, minimizing the time between injury and treatment at a trauma facility is a key tenet of field medicine for U.S. forces in combat. Bill was awarded the Legion of Merit with “V” (for valor in combat) for exceptionally meritorious conduct for his service in Korea, specifically for pioneering night pickups of wounded men by helicopters, which at the time were not equipped with instruments for night flying.

Returning to the U.S. in 1952, Bill commanded Marine Observation Squadron 2 (VMO-2) at Marine Corps Air Facility, Santa Ana, California. From 1954 to 1957, he served at Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington as Program Coordinator for Helicopter, VSTOL, and Light Fixed-Wing Aircraft, and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in mid-1957. Bill completed his B.S. from the University of Maryland that same year, and in 1958, received his M.B.A. in Financial Management and Comptrollership at The George Washington University. From 1959-1961, while assigned as Comptroller at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, he taught Spanish at the East Carolina University. From 1961 to 1963, Bill served as Executive Officer and then Commanding Officer of Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152 (VMGR-152) at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan which provided the bulk of Marine air transport in the Pacific including growing U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Under his command, the squadron won the Commandant’s Aviation Efficiency Trophy for Fiscal Year 1962. Bill returned to Washington for his final Marine Corps assignment on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in 1963, where he participated in reconciling the Navy Department’s research and development objectives with its budget submissions to the Secretary of the Navy. He was promoted to Colonel in mid-1965 and retired from the Marine Corps in December 1966.

In addition to his Legion of Merit and two Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bill was awarded twelve Air Medals for meritorious achievement in aerial flight in both WWII and Korea. His other decorations included the Presidential Unit Citation, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, the Navy Unit Commendation, the China Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, two National Defense Service Medals, the United Nations Service Medal, and numerous other service medals and ribbons. Bill felt there was no greater honor than to serve his country and defend its freedoms as a U.S. Marine.

In 1966, Bill married Solange Jacqueline de Saint Hubert Binda with her two children, Mark Christian and Carinne Solange.

Upon his retirement from the Marines, Bill went to work for the Department of the Navy as a civilian, specializing in weapons systems budgeting and financial management. He was promoted into the Senior Executive Service in 1983, and was assigned as Director of the Navy’s Research and Development Programming and Budgeting Division. Bill played a key role for all issues involving the direction and coordination of appropriations for research, development, testing, and evaluation programs, which during his tenure on the Navy Staff grew to over $10 billion annually. Bill’s performance was recognized with the Presidential Meritorious Executive Grade Award in 1988. He also received the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the highest honorary award the Secretary of the Navy can bestow on a civilian, the Career Service Award from the Secretary of the Navy, and multiple other Senior Executive Performance Awards.

Bill retired from Federal service on September 26, 1989, having devoted 47 faithful years to his country. At his retirement ceremony, then Secretary of the Navy Henry L. Garrett III said of Bill, “His contributions to the Navy have been enormous and his energetic manner, legendary productivity, and high sense of loyalty and integrity have singled him out from his peers. His superior qualities of management and organization have become a standard for the entire Navy staff. With a fine wit and understanding tact, he has demonstrated leadership in its highest form.”

Bill and Solange lived in Falls Church where she had her thriving ballet school, the Ballet Academy of Northern Virginia. “Colonel Mac,” as he was affectionately known by generations of dance students, was very much admired for his gentle kindness and wonderful sense of humor. Bill was a lifelong do-it-yourselfer, and his technical wizardry led him to act as sound man extraordinaire for innumerable ballet recitals. The couple spent weekends and holidays at their Shenandoah country cabin, and later at the house they built near Aldie, Virginia. He loved the outdoors, mountains, nature, bird watching, sunrises, and sunsets. Bill was a deeply spiritual man and his faith never wavered; he often said that walking in the woods was like being in a cathedral of nature made by God. He was an avid reader and could converse with anyone on any topic, although as a trained observer, he often preferred to listen to what others had to say. He was truly a selfless individual of enormous wisdom and patience. His quiet dignity was a virtue to his last breath. He was loved and admired by everyone who came to know him.

Bill is preceded in death by his parents, William Gordon Sr. and Alice Burgoyne; his siblings Norman Spencer, Margaret Helen, and Marjorie Burgoyne; his first wife, Gwendolyn Louise Gilbert; and his stepson, Mark Christian Binda. He is survived by Solange, his wife of 54 joyful years; his four children Bill (Eleanor) of West Virginia, Marcy Johnson (Rodger) of Arizona, Chuck (Marie) and Doug (Melanie) of Minnesota; his stepdaughter Carinne Cunningham (Ron) of California; thirteen grandchildren Will, Matt, Heather, Matt, Dustin, Ryan, Chandler, Ben, Kirby, Luke, Zac, Christopher, and Alexandra; and twenty-three great grandchildren, all of whom miss him greatly.

A funeral at the Chapel of Joint Base Ft. Myer-Henderson Hall will be followed by burial with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on October 4, 2021. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for contributions to The Wounded Warrior Project or to the San Lucas Toliman Mission in Guatemala, which Bill supported financially for many years

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