Some background on the murdered 83-year-old World War II hero, Clair Chaffin

Maj. Gen. James L. Williams, commanding general, 4th Marine Division, talks with 4th Marine Division Association President Clair Chaffin aboard the paddle wheeler “Belle of Louisville” during the association’s 60th reunion Sept. 8. (Official U. S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. G. S. Thomas)

My husband and I attended the National Meeting of the Fourth Marine Division in Atlanta on August 25th and 26th. My father, Clair Chaffin was made the 60th president of the 4th Marine Division. He was a Navy Corpsman attached to the 4th Marine Division in WWII and was on Iwo Jima, Saipan, and the Marianas. He received the silver star for his continuous rescue of the wounded on the front line. The Japanese riddled his ambulance with bullet holes. My father joined the service because two of his brothers were killed on two separate submarines.

While we were at the National Meeting we were privileged to meet an outstanding young man. We met Todd Corbin a young man from Sandusky, Ohio who is normally a deputy sheriff but is in the Marine reserves and was sent over to Iraq. This young man was honored by the 4th Marine Division because he received the Navy Cross for his heroism in Iraq. He saved the lives of many wounded in his squad at the risk of his own life. He was very humble and was concerned about the lives of his squad members who were killed in the initial ambush. He is 32 years old and was called the old man by the other members because they were in their late teens and early 20's.

Meeting heroes like my father and Todd Corbin is such an uplifting experience. It is great to know that there are still young people who will risk their own lives for their country and fellow service men. I think this country is no longer patriotic until I hear these heroic stories.

A native of Jackson, Michigan, Clair Chaffin joined the Navy after the 10th grade after losing his two older brothers in the war. After his training as a Corpsman, he served at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego, and was subsequently assigned with the Marine Corps, where he earned a black belt in the martial arts. Clair participated in the invasions of Roi Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. He was awarded the Silver Star. After active duty, he majored in Building Construction, and began a 54 year career supervising major Dept of Defense construction projects. Clair has remained extremely active in many organizations, including the position he currently holds as National President of the 4th Marine Division Assn.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addresses the audience at the 4th Marine Division reunion at Louisville, Ky., Sept. 5, 2007. Pace was the keynote speaker at the national reunion. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF

Pace recalled the sense of fear he personally faced serving as a platoon leader in Vietnam. “Marines know fear,” he said. “But what we fear more than physical danger is that somehow we will let down the Marine on our left or the Marine on our right, or worse, that we will let down the heritage of our corps that we have inherited from those who have gone before us.”

The chairman thanked the 4th Marine Division members for their service to the country and the legacy they left to the Marines who have followed in their footsteps. “Thank you … for the strength, vigor, (and) vitality of your corps, because it is you who we do not want to ever let down,” he said.

Claire Chaffin, national president of the 4th Marine Division Association, praised Pace for recognizing the similarities between what he and his fellow Marines confronted in the Pacific during World War II and what troops are facing today in the Middle East.

“It was important that he drew a comparison between Marines of the Second World War who kept the enemy from our shores and paid tribute to the troops doing the same thing today,” he said.

A corpsman who joined the division at age 17 and fought in all four of its major battles, Chaffin said many of the tactics his unit used still serve as textbook examples for today’s troops.

But despite similarities, he said, there are striking differences between what his unit and today’s Marines face. “They don’t know the enemy. He can pat you on the back, then shoot you,” he said. “So in some ways, this is a very different kind of war.”

Darlington man, teen charged in fatal hotel shooting

From staff reports
Published: June 9, 2009

Sylvester Davis Jr., left, and Dondre Scott were arrested in connection with the shooting death of 83-year-old World War II veteran Clair C. Chaffin.

Florence County sheriff’s deputies have arrested two suspects, including a 16-year-old, they say were involved in a fatal shooting outside a Florence hotel room Monday morning.

Sylvester Davis, 25, of Darlington, was arrested about 12:15 p.m. Tuesday after a brief vehicle chase in Darlington County, Sheriff Kenney Boone said. Davis was in a stolen Chevy Tahoe when he was spotted by law enforcement officers near Holly Circle in Darlington County.

Dondre Scott, 16, also of Darlington, was arrested about 5:30 p.m. Monday at a residence on Pisgah Road in Darlington County, Boone said.

Sylvester Davis Jr., left, and Dondre Scott were arrested in connection with the shooting death of 83-year-old World War II veteran Clair C. Chaffin.

Davis and Scott each face a murder charge in connection with Clair C. Chaffin’s death.

“I think this is going to be a death penalty case,” Boone said.

Prosecutors are considering that option, 12th Circuit Solicitor Ed Clements III said.

“This is potentially a capital case,” he said.

The U.S. Supreme Court prohibits the death penalty being sought against someone under the age of 18, however, Clements said.

Twelfth Circuit attorneys would have to determine who exactly pulled the trigger, then will decide how to pursue the case, he said.

“This is a terrible thing,” Clements said. “That guy was a war hero who risked his life to defend the lives of the two people that took his life senselessly.”

World War II veteran Clair C. Chaffin, 83 of Archer, Fla., was shot while he was in the process of packing his vehicle after being confronted by two men in an attempted armed robbery about 7 a.m. at the Thunderbird Inn, located at 2004 W. Lucas St., at the U.S. 52/Interstate 95 intersection.

Chaffin was taken to an area hospital, where he later died. An autopsy at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston confirmed the cause of his death as a gunshot wound to the chest area, Florence County Coroner M.G. “Bubba” Matthews said.

Kat Dow, Chaffin’s daughter, said in a comment posted to scnow.com her father was on his way to Virginia to attend a meeting with other 4th Marine Divison Association members, “and then he and his dear friend were heading for a trip across the Canadian Rockies.

“He was really excited about this trip. It is unbelievable he was gunned down like this,” she wrote. “I know my Dad and he was tough. He wouldn’t have just handed his money over! I so wish that he had, nothing was worth his life.”

Chaffin’s shooting is directly related to a robbery that happened in Richland County at 2 a.m. Sunday, Boone said.

That crime happened at the Motel 6 located at 7541 Nates Road where an off-duty probation agent was robbed at gunpoint of her credentials and state-issued .40-caliber handgun, according to a press release issued Monday by Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott.

The probation agent was working a security detail at the motel when two unknown black men approached her while she was sitting in her car, Lott said.

The agent said the suspects fled in a burgundy Nissan bearing S.C. license tag DDE 725, which Lott said matched the description of the vehicle involved in Monday morning’s fatal Florence County shooting.

Investigators are trying to determine whether the weapon used in the Florence homicide is the same as the weapon stolen in the Richland County robbery, Boone said.

State and federal charges against the suspect are being pursued, too, Boone said.

“They will most likely face a good bit of armed robbery charges,” he said. “These two individuals have done a lot of armed robberies in different areas of the state.”

The suspects will likely continue to be detained in Effingham because of the seriousness of the charges they face in Florence County, Boone said. At some point, other agencies will send deputies copies of warrants and detainers relating to the suspects.

Deputies were able to track the suspects to Darlington County because they were able to quickly identify the vehicle the suspects were driving after the crime, Boone said. This made it fairly easy to track down the vehicle and, in turn, the suspects.

A third person in custody will likely be charged in connection with an armed robbery involving the suspects, but not in connection with Chaffin’s death , Boone said. The identity of that person hasn’t been released.

A native of Jackson, Mich., Chaffin landed at Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945, according to a February 2008 report in The Gainesville (Fla.) Sun.

He dropped out of high school in the 10th grade to join the Navy and “even the score” for the death of his two brothers, Elmer and Kenneth, in the war, according to the September newsletter of the Gator Detachment of the Marine Corps League Inc. in Gainesville, Fla. He also sang in the Great Lakes Naval Choir.

Chaffin later attended junior college in St. Petersburg, Fla., majoring in building construction. He spent the next 54 years coordinating and supervising major Department of Defense and Veterans Administration construction projects in Alabama, Indiana and throughout Florida, according to the newsletter. Then-Gov. Jeb Bush awarded Chaffin a full high school diploma from the state of Florida in 2004 in recognition of his educational sacrifice to serve his country.

Boone said Chaffin was awarded the Silver Star for his heroic efforts as a military veteran and had been married for more than 60 years.

Boone said he thanks the Darlington County and Richland County sheriff’s offices, the Florence City Police Department and the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force for their assistance in capturing the suspects.

These crimes remain under investigation, and anyone with information about them is asked to call the state Crime Stoppers hotline at (888) CRIME SC (274-6372). Callers need not reveal their identities.

http://www.scnow.com/scp/news/local/pee_dee/article/2_arrested_in_fatal_florence_hotel_shooting/55460/

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