Remembering a Union County war hero
Jun. 2—SUMMERVILLE — It is sometimes said age is just a number.
Eighty-nine years ago twin brothers Dean and Gene Wells, of Union, were determined not to let that number get in the way of serving their country.
The Wells brothers, who were saluted posthumously at a Memorial Day ceremony at Summerville Cemetery on Monday, May 30, were 17-year-old juniors at UHS in February of 1943. Fourteen months earlier the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor, triggering the Union States' entry into World War II.
"They were getting anxious to get into the war," said John Martin of Summerville, a retired U.S. Marine who is a nephew of Dean and Gene Wells.
The frustrated twins wanted to join the U.S. Marines, so they took a bus to Walla Walla, Washington, to get to the nearest U.S. Marine recruiting station.
"They had intended to leave Walla Walla and go straight to training without telling their parents," Martin said.
The brothers' plan hit a speed bump though when the Marine recruiter told them that because they were just 17 and only high school juniors, they needed parental permission to join the Marines.
"They had to return to Union with the appropriate papers for signatures, which their folks reluctantly signed," Martin said.
The twins shipped out of Union County about two weeks later, on Feb. 27, 1943, but not before catching the attention of at least one local newspaper.
"It ran a picture of them titled 'Double trouble for the Japanese,'" Martin said.
Once in the Marines the Wells twins were separated for the first time in their lives following boot camp, with Gene receiving training in artillery and Dean being trained as a rifleman.
Dean Wells later participated in amphibious assaults on Tarawa in November of 1943 and Saipan in June of 1944. On April 1, 1945, both Dean and Gene Wells participated in an amphibious landing on Okinawa although in different battalions. Over the course of about six weeks, the brothers each sustained serious wounds and Dean became a war hero after displaying bravery for which he was awarded the Navy Cross.
The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second highest military decoration, awarded to sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force.
Dean Wells received the cross for actions he took while with a Marine rifle platoon on the island of Okinawa on May 15, 1945.
Wells' platoon was receiving intense fire from an enemy ridge when the attack was momentarily halted, according to a citation for the Navy Cross written by Roy S. Geiger, a lieutenant general in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Wells then led a demolition team forward through a withering barrage and destroyed one of three enemy strongpoints. When the overwhelming fire superiority of the enemy made it impossible for the team to continue, Wells voluntarily and alone crawled forward and across an exposed area and succeeded in destroying another position.
After obtaining additional grenades he again braved a deadly hail of shrapnel and bullets, and although he was seriously wounded, he succeeded in killing everyone at the last center of resistance, according to Geiger, to allow the platoon to secure the ridge.
"His courageous actions and aggressive fighting spirit were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service," Geiger wrote.
Dean Wells never said much about his war experiences until later in his life. The family knew about the Navy Cross but for many years did not know the details, Martin said.
The war hero discussed what he did to earn the Navy Cross in the 2016 book "We All Have a Story to Tell," which was edited by Robert Wells and includes many stories about the Wells family's contributions to America's World War II effort.
Dean Wells' humility shines through in the book. He notes in the book that the citation he received for the Navy Cross indicates he accomplished a lot after being wounded in Okinawa on May 15, 1945. Wells begged to differ.
"Personally I don't think I did that much after I got hit," he wrote in a chapter for the 2016 book.
Dean Wells later had a successful career as an educator in the Portland area. He and his wife had three children. He died in 2018 at the age of 93.
His twin, Gene Wells, who also lived in Portland, died five years earlier.
The ceremony Martin spoke at on May 30 was attended by about 50 people. Those in attendance included members of the Imbler Rural Fire Department, the Patriot Riders and Pastor Frank Humber of the Summerville Baptist Church.
Martin said during his presentation that about 400 veterans are buried at Summerville Cemetery and relatively little is known about many of them.
"But," he said, "it is important to remember this one detail — they served."