U.S.M.C. Corporal William Lindbergh Honored For His Service To The Nation

OLEAN – U.S. Marine Corps Corporal William Lindbergh was honored recently for his six years of dedicated service to the country. 

During a private ceremony with his family and friends, Senator Catharine Young (R,C,I- 57th District) presented Corporal Lindbergh with the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Department of Defense’s Cold War Recognition Certificate that he earned during his dedicated service from 1958 to 1964.

“In the years following the Second World War, our Nation relied upon brave men and women like William Lindbergh to keep us safe from the ever-present threat of nuclear war. With America’s military in a perpetual state of pre-conflict readiness, always teetering on the brink of war with the Soviet Union, Corporal Lindbergh and his fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines stood on guard to defend our country, its citizens, and all that we hold dear. Corporal Lindbergh’s commitment and selflessness was truly laudable, and we are all grateful for his dedication to duty,” said Senator Young.

“Corporal Lindbergh was more than just a military man. He is a loving father, a farmer, and a dedicated member of his community. We owe our veterans like Corporal William Lindbergh a profound debt of gratitude, especially in recognition that they kept us safe during a tinderbox time period in our great Nation’s history. It was a privilege to take part in this ceremony to pay tribute to a man of such courage. On behalf of the people of the 57^th Senate District, and all New Yorkers, we deeply appreciate Corporal Lindbergh’s service to our country,” she said.

Born on March 8, 1939, in Depew, William Francis Lindbergh was one of nine children born to Steven and Agnes Lindbergh. He attended Rushford and West Valley schools but dropped out midway through eighth grade to work with his father in the Lindbergh Construction Company.

In 1957, Mr. Lindbergh went to work as a Machine Operator for Ontario Knife Company.

On January 7, 1958, at the age of 19, William Lindbergh enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.  He completed basic training at the Marine Corps’ Recruit Depot/Eastern Recruiting Region at Parris Island, South Carolina. Private Lindbergh was trained as a Rifleman and assigned as an armed guard to the Marine Barracks, Clarksville Base, Clarksville, Tennessee.

Called “The Birdcage” because of an intricate network of electric fences, gates and an electronically-controlled security system, Clarksville Base, part of the Fort Campbell Military Reservation, was a highly secret nuclear weapons stockpile site constructed by the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission during the height of the Cold War. In this facility, the second of six built across the Continental United States, the Nation’s nuclear warheads were constructed, maintained, modified, guarded, stored, inspected and deployed from a self-sufficient building tied to a network of bunkers that was designed to withstand a 1-kiloton explosion. At one point, a full one-third of the Nation’s nuclear arsenal was stored at the Clarksville Base. The Former Soviet Union considered Clarksville Base such an important part of America’s defense structure that the base was among the first ten primary targets for Soviet Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and was frequently targeted by KGB agents seeking, unsuccessfully, to infiltrate the layers of security.

Corporal Lindbergh was then assigned to a special unit of Marines tasked with physical security at the Clarksville Base, operating around the clock under the constant threat of nuclear war. The Marines controlled access to the base at the main entrance, patrolled the perimeter road around the base, monitored the perimeter fence intrusion alarms, performed sentry duty and manned the pillboxes outside the storage facilities.

On January 6, 1961 Corporal Lindbergh was discharged from Clarksville Base, having completed three years of active duty.

Corporal Lindbergh was reassigned to the First Marine Corps Reserve and Recruitment District where he served out the remaining three years of his military service obligation. He was finally discharged on January 6, 1964.

Upon returning to Franklinville, Mr. Lindbergh resumed his employment at Ontario Knife, now as a Supervisor. He would remain with the company until leaving that position after 32 years, to operate the Lindbergh family dairy farm. He semi-retired as a farmer after 15 years but still maintains a herd of dairy cattle.

Married to the former Jeannette Decker, also of Franklinville, the couple has been together for 53 years. They have been blessed with one son, Mitchell Scott Lindbergh, of Alden, and two grandchildren, Zachery and Lauren.

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