In March 1966, Kellogg was transferred to South Vietnam where he served as Weapons Platoon Sergeant and, later, Company Supply Non-commissioned Officer of Company F, 2nd Battalion 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. He was promoted to staff sergeant on July 1, 1967. In December, Kellogg was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, serving as a squad leader with M-16 Special Task Group Command, 3rd Battalion 8th Marines and subsequently as a platoon sergeant and, later, platoon commander of Company I, 3rd Battalion 6th Marines.
Returning for his second tour of duty in December 1969, Kellogg served briefly as a platoon sergeant with Company A, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines. During March 1970, he was reassigned duty as a platoon sergeant of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. His actions on March 11, 1970, earned him the Medal of Honor. Wounded in action in Quang Nam Province on May 8, 1970, he was evacuated to the United States Naval Hospital, Yokosuka, Japan.
Kellogg was released from hospital in October 1970 and returned to duty that December, when he assumed his assignment as Instructor, Field Medical Service School, at Camp Pendleton, California. He was promoted to gunnery sergeant on July 1, 1972. In 1975 he served at Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, with the rank of gunnery sergeant. During the Fall of Saigon, while the last Marine troops were conducting the evacuation of the United States Embassy in Saigon, in March and April 1975, he brought a television into the squad bay at Marine Barracks Pearl Harbor. He explained the historical importance of what was happening to a few Marines, his subordinates, who were off duty in the barracks at that time. He served as a role model and highly experienced leader of the Marine Security Guards he held command over at that time.[citation needed] He was later promoted to sergeant major, and retired from the Marine Corps in October 1990.
In May 1984, Kellogg designated The Unknown service member from the Vietnam War during a ceremony at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.[2] The Unknown service member was later identified in 1998 as Air Force Lieutenant Michael Blassie, following mitochondrial DNA testing.[3]
Later life
After retiring from the military, Kellogg remained in Hawaii and worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs as a benefit counselor at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu.[1] Kellogg's son, former Staff Sergeant Aaron Kellogg who also was highly decorated, is an ex-infantryman and paratrooper who served with the 173rd Airborne.
Awards and honors
A complete list of his medals and decorations includes:
The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor to
Gunnery Sergeant Allen J. Kellogg Jr. United States Marine Corps
for service as set forth in the following citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a platoon sergeant with Company G, in connection with combat operations against the enemy on the night of March 11, 1970. Under the leadership of G/Sgt. Kellogg, a small unit from Company G was evacuating a fallen comrade when the unit came under a heavy volume of small arms and automatic weapons fire from a numerically superior enemy force occupying well-concealed emplacements in the surrounding jungle. During the ensuing fierce engagement, an enemy soldier managed to maneuver through the dense foliage to a position near the Marines, and hurled a hand grenade into their midst which glanced off the chest of G/Sgt. Kellogg. Quick to act, he forced the grenade into the mud in which he was standing, threw himself over the lethal weapon and absorbed the full effects of its detonation with his body thereby preventing serious injury or possible death to several of his fellow Marines. Although suffering multiple injuries to his chest and his right shoulder and arm, G/Sgt. Kellogg resolutely continued to direct the efforts of his men until all were able to maneuver to the relative safety of the company perimeter. By his heroic and decisive action in risking his life to save the lives of his comrades, G/Sgt. Kellogg reflected the highest credit upon himself and upheld the finest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service.[4]
Wesley Lee Fox was a highly decorated United States Marine Corps colonel with 43 years of service. Fox was a combat veteran — receiving the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the Vietnam War, and is considered to be one of the Marine Corps' legendary heroes. After retiring from the Marines Corps, he wrote a book about his career — Marine Rifleman: Forty-Three Years in the Corps; and, he served for 8 years as Deputy Commandant for the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets.
Rodney Maxwell Davis was a non-commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism above and beyond the call of duty in 1967, during the Vietnam War.
Gunnery Sergeant Robert Howard McCard, a United States Marine, received the Medal of Honor (posthumously) for his actions during the Battle of Saipan in World War II.
Alfredo Cantu "Freddy" Gonzalez was a United States Marine Corps sergeant who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for service in the Battle of Huế during the Vietnam War.
Thomas J. McHugh was a United States Marine who served as the 3rd Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps from June 29, 1962, to July 16, 1965.
Joseph W. Dailey was a United States Marine who served as the 5th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps from August 1, 1969 until he retired from active duty on January 31, 1973. Dailey was the oldest living former Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps when he died in 2007. Dailey served in combat in three wars—World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War—earning the Silver Star for actions during the Battle of Okinawa and the Navy Cross and the Bronze Star Medal for heroism in Korea. He was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Peter Spencer Connor was a United States Marine Corps staff sergeant who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for absorbing the blast of his faulty-timered grenade rather than tossing it and risking nearby comrades in February 1966 in Vietnam.
Lewis G. Lee is a retired United States Marine who served as the 13th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999. He retired from active duty in 1999 after over 31 years of service. He was the last Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps to serve in combat in the Vietnam War.
David W. Sommers is a retired United States Marine who served as the 11th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps from 1987 to 1991.
Robert Earl Cleary was a United States Marine who served as the 10th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps from 1983 to 1987. He served in the Marines for 36 years, including seeing in combat in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War. For his actions in Vietnam, he was awarded the Silver Star, the Navy Commendation Medal, and two Purple Hearts. He was the last Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps to have served in the Korean War.
Gunnery Sergeant William Gary Walsh was a United States Marine who heroically sacrificed his life to save the lives of his fellow Marines during the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. For his actions on February 27, 1945, he posthumously received the Medal of Honor.
Jimmie Earl Howard was a Marine Corps staff sergeant when he led an eighteen-man reconnaissance patrol in a fierce battle against a battalion of Viet Cong in June 1966. As a result of his heroic actions, Howard became the sixth U.S. Marine to be awarded the nation's highest honor for heroism in combat in Vietnam. The Medal of Honor was presented by President Lyndon B. Johnson in White House ceremonies on August 21, 1967.
Captain John James McGinty III was a United States Marine Corps officer who received the United States militaries' highest decoration — the Medal of Honor — for heroism during July 1966 in the Vietnam War.
Karl Gorman Taylor Sr. was a United States Marine Corps staff sergeant who was killed in action during his second tour of duty in the Vietnam War. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration for valor, for his heroic actions on December 8, 1968.
Walter Keith Singleton was a United States Marine Corps sergeant who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously by President Lyndon B. Johnson, for his actions above and beyond the call of duty in Vietnam on March 24, 1967, during the Vietnam War.
Master Sergeant Richard Allan Pittman was a United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on July 24, 1966 during the Vietnam War.
Lawrence David Peters was a United States Marine who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on September 4, 1967 during the Vietnam War.
Hispanics in the United States Marine Corps, such as Private France Silva who during the Boxer Rebellion became the first Marine of the thirteen Marines of Hispanic descent to be awarded the Medal of Honor, and Private First Class Guy Gabaldon who is credited with capturing over 1,000 enemy soldiers and civilians during World War II, have distinguished themselves in combat. Hispanics have participated as members of the United States Marine Corps in the Boxer Rebellion, World War I, the American intervention in Latin America also known as the Banana Wars, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and most recently in the military campaigns of Afghanistan and Iraq.
John L. Canley is a retired United States Marine and a recipient of the United States military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in January/February 1968 during the Battle of Huế. At the time of this action Canley was a gunnery sergeant with Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines. Canley was originally awarded the Navy Cross but this was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, which was presented on 17 October 2018.
↑ Helton, L.M. (2006): Identification of Human Remains. Part 2: DNA. In: Spitz, W.U. & Spitz, D.J. (eds): Spitz and Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation of Death. Guideline for the Application of Pathology to Crime Investigations (Fourth edition), Charles C. Thomas, pp.: 226–239; Springfield, Illinois.
"GySgt Allen J. Kellogg Jr., Medal of Honor". Marines Awarded the Medal of Honor. History Division, United States Marine Corps. Archived from the original on 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2005-11-25.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link) (Medal of Honor citation)
"Sergeant Major Allen J. Kellogg, USMC". Who's Who in Marine Corps History. History Division, United States Marine Corps. Archived from the original on May 16, 2011. Retrieved September 12, 2007.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
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