CECIL M. DIETZ
Chief Warrant Officer 4 • United States Marine Corps
T H E I R H E R O S T O R Y
My Father, Cecil M. Dietz
My father, Cecil M. Dietz, devoted approximately 40 years of his life to the United States Marine Corps.
He enlisted as a teenager, and his service spanned World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. His military career took him far from home, including assignments in Haiti and China.
Our family moved with him when we could. My sister was born in Quantico, Virginia, and I was born in San Diego after our parents moved to California. When I was still a toddler, we traveled to China, where Dad served with the North China Marines. I learned to walk aboard the ship taking us there.
Eventually, we returned to California while Dad remained in China. We also stayed with aunts and uncles in New York. Before he could return to us, he was captured by Japanese forces in Peking, now Beijing, on December 8, 1941. He was a Sergeant Major at the time and would spend nearly four years as a prisoner of war, remaining in captivity until September 1945.
During those years, Dad continued to carry responsibility for his fellow prisoners. A Marine Corps historical account describes how he served as a camp adjutant and was responsible for a barracks of approximately 200 men. He was allowed a typewriter for official correspondence, but he secretly used it to keep a diary, writing letters to his wife and children. He hid those pages beneath his trunk, and despite repeated inspections, they remained, preserving an account of the years we spent apart.
After his release, he became a Warrant Officer and served in the Marine Corps until he retired in 1955. He then worked for another 20 years and lived to the age of 87.
His life held decades of service, years of separation from his family, and the hardship of captivity.
As his daughter, I am proud to call him my hero and sponsor this flag to honor his service and preserve his story.
H O N O R E D B Y
Ruth Hulbert