U.S. Marine - Major, Korea, Vietnam.
Mustanger (Mustang) - A name given to military personnel who started his military career as an enlisted service member. The rank is usually granted to older servicemen or women who are more experienced then their peers who had to attended a military academy to obtain their commission
Advancement, promotions - E-1 Private, E-2 PFC, private first class; E-3 Lance Corporal; E-4 corporal NCO (non commissioned officer); E-5 sergeant; E-6 staff sergeant; Warrant Officer; second lieutenant; first lieutenant; captain; major.
Service to our country - January 1951 to July 31, 1972
Medals and awards - Korean Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Purple Heart, conspicuous Service Medal, Navy Unit Citation, combat action, good conduct.
Sharpshooter M-1, M-14 rifle; expert, 45-caliber pistol
Family - Brothers, Leonard, U.S. Navy veteran; Robert, U.S. Army veteran; Keith, U.S. Air Force, master sergeant.
Carl J. Yale was born in Brockport, Pa., on July 3, 1932, the son of Leonard and Violet (Brown). Carl's father was a roustabout. A roustabout was a person who maintains oil fields and oil rigs. It was a very dangerous job but the pay was good. If one were to dedicate his life to this position today, they would find that it is listed as one of the most dangerous jobs to hold.
Carl's mother was a homemaker who maintained the Yale home. Working in the oil business meant moving at times to keep one's job. It wasn't long that the family moved to Bradford then on to Olean.
Carl's high school diploma came from Olean High School in 1949. While there, Carl played basketball and some football. Most of his younger years were spent out in the wood either hunting or fishing he could not get enough of either of the two. Along with the sport of hunting and fishing came the rewards of good fresh food on the Yale table.
The woods around Rock City hill and Bradford was the place to be if one wanted to locate Carl. With the times being bad, food was a gift, not only because the economy was poor it was rare on many occasions for even the stores to be stocked with food. A good hunter in the family meant good meals.
Along with fresh meat for the family, it was time that Carl went out and made some money. In his last year of high school, Carl landed his first real paying job. His first day of work, which came after school, was a dispatcher for the local cab company. The times in the oil business were starting to slow down. Fewer people were buying cars and it was time to move to where the work was so the Yale family moved to Buffalo where Carl's father landed a job with the Pepsi Cola Co. as a truck driver. Carl found work as a dish washer .
Carl's big break when he landed a job as a busboy at the Town Casino Dinner & Supper Club. In Buffalo, it was late 1949 and the Town Casino was the largest dinner club in Buffalo serving up to 800 people, Not only did it serve the best food in town, it also brought in the best entertainment in the area. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Louis Armstrong, Bennie Goodman and other big bands that were at the top came to this venue.
Carl got in good with the owner Harry Altmon and because of the way Carl handled himself with the customers, Mr. Altmon gave him the position as head busboy.
Being well known now and wanting to get ahead, Carl later was offered the same position at the Statler Hotel in the famous Terrace Room. Duties started here first by clearing tables, setting up new tables and serving water. All was going well until one night while leaving the Terrace Room. Two large men who could have landed roles the "Sopranos" series on HBO walked up to him and asked for his union card. Not having one, Carl advised the two that by noon the next day, there will be one in is wallet. The next morning, Carl was a union-paying card carrying member of the Bartenders and Waiters union.
Getting the union card paid off. By doing his job and being well liked, Carl was soon wearing $200 suits and bringing in $60 to $80 a night in tips. The first New Year's he worked landed him $350 in tips.
All was going well for this young man until January 1951 when word came that his brother was shot while serving in Korea. Being close to his brother, who also served in World War II, made Carl upset of hearing of his brother's wounds. He wanted to do something for his brother and decided to join the military and fight for some revenge.
Always remembering his brother's words to never join the Army because the Army will kill you, Carl made up his mind that if he was going to join that it will be the best branch.
A few days later Carl was taking the oath to serve his country. He was now a recruit who was on his way to Pariss Island, S.C. Training started out as most recruit busses arrive at the main gate about 2:30 a.m. and take the only route over the marshland roadway with most of the bus asleep because of the long journey from home.
This journey ended when the bus driver opened the doors and the drill instructor appeared immediately. From that very first glimpse of that instructor, the lives of each man would be changed forever. He would now start the training, that if completed, would bond him with a group that calls themselves U.S. Marines.
Carl completed all the necessary schools that would give him the Military Occupational Specialty as a 50-caliber machine gunner. With the glory of being called a machine gunner came two things. The 50-caliber machine gun weighed in at 83.78 pounds, which meant every time Carl's company left its perimeter, he carried part or most of its weight. Second, when a Marine unit was taking a 50-caliber machine gun with them, it meant they were expecting large numbers of enemy.
New orders came after all stateside training and, as expected, Carl was heading for this small country named South Korea where he was assigned to the 7th Marines heavy weapons battalion. It wasn't long after seeing firefights that Carl received wounds when he was shot and cut severely during combat which involved hand to hand contact with the enemy. He was sent to a military hospital in Japan and treated for wounds and rehab, which lasted for seven months. Returning to Korea sent Carl to peninsula where he gave up the 83-pound machine for duty with the Third Armored Amphtracks. Duties with the amphtracks supported the 75mm Howitzer. Carl ended his duty in Korea in July 1952.
Returning from Korea found new orders to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Here he received the rank of corporal and spent the next 18 months with the Second armor amphtracks. This duty brought him his sergeant stripes. In 1956, he re-enlisted which then sent him off to Harrisburg, Pa., as a U.S. Marine recruiter. With this assignment came the rank of staff sergeant.
After recruiting all the Marines he could, new duties came for Carl which sent him to Quantico, Va. He was selected to become a warrant officer. After all classes were over, he was now an officer in the Marine Corps with the rank of warrant officer one.
His next duty took Carl to division headquarters as personnel officer. Here Carl stayed until 1965, where he ended up at headquarters in Washington, D.C. With the new duty station came the job as administrator of the supply division in the Navy annex with the rank of captain.
In 1968, he finally received orders to be the captain in the adjutant's office located in Danang, south Vietnam. Duty lasted until July 1969. He later moved on the Hawaiian Islands and retired in 1972 as a major.
In 1973, Yale decided to move to Silver Creek. He loved the area and the people who lived here. While in the area, he became involved in the Marine Corp League Club Chapter 231, which was located on Route 5.
Carl Yale - jar head, top, mustang, leatherneck, officer, gung ho, squared away, Semper Fidelis. Once a Marine, always a Marine.
This young man who made it to the top at one of Buffalo's hottest night spots to climbing the ranks of the ladder in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Going from a private to the rank of major is a feat in itself, only three promotions away from having the title of general. A man who held the rank of major now dedicates his time in making sure area Marines have a place to meet.
In 1968 when he was adjutant of the Third Marines in Danang, Vietnam, Capt. Carl Yale and I may have crossed paths while I was reporting for duty. He may have issued the orders that sent me off to Camp Carroll on the DMZ without him or me ever knowing it.
Thank you Maj. Yale for your dedicated years of service in my Marine Corp. Thank you for the way you spend your time making a place where Marines can meet. Carl Yale is a hero - and our hero of the week
