Sixth Marine Division News and Updates
Tale of the Last Man Bottle:
After Missing for 16 Years, Tontine Bottle Reappears at the 50th Reunion!
On November 10, 1989, Sixth Division Marines Len Cotton, Ken Davis, and Jack Hoag visited General Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr., Commanding General of the Sixth Marine Division on Okinawa. They brought a bottle of champagne, a German chocolate cake, and a bottle of Chivas Regal to celebrate the Marine Corps Birthday. At the end of the evening, the General insisted the Marines take the bottle of Chivas Regal and “give the boys a drink” at the next reunion.
Being the creative and enterprising men that they were, they came up with an idea. They would auction the bottle each year and donate the proceeds to VMI, General Shepherd's alma mater. The winning bidder would become the custodian of the bottle until the next reunion.
There was one more piece to the plan. Many years down the road, the last two survivors of the Sixth Marine Division were to get together, open the bottle, and propose a final toast to all the Sixth Division Marines who who had passed before them.
Jack Hoag crafted an oak case for what became known as the Last Man Bottle. A plaque on the top of the case identified the bottle as “The property of the 6th Marine Division Association by order of General L. C. Shepherd U.S.M.C.”
Last Man Bottle
In February 1990, Jack took the bottle in its case to General Shepherd on his 94th (and last) birthday and explained the plans for the auction and donations to VMI. General Shepherd responded, “You boys are too kind.”
Later in 1990 at the annual reunion, James Chaisson became the first winning bidder for the Last Man Bottle. His name was engraved on a bronze plaque on the side of the bottle's oak case. Over the next 14 years, the name of the winning bidder was engraved on the case each year. Bidding for the bottle was aggressive, to the benefit of the scholarship fund at VMI.
triple winner Claud Wilkins in 2000
Everything went according to plan until the 2006 reunion when there was no bottle to auction, which upset a lot of people. There was still no bottle in the following years, and no one could remember who the last winning bidder was. A rumor circulated that the bottle had been donated to VMI, but no one followed up. Eventually everyone forgot all about it. That is, everyone except Watson Crumbie.
In fall 2020, Watson wrote a letter to the Striking Sixth explaining the history of the bottle as he remembered it. He had tried to contact the VMI museum, but it was closed due to Covid. He needed help locating it. With plans underway for our 50th and final reunion, it was time to solve the mystery. But no help came.
Not willing to give up, early in 2021 Watson reached Colonel Keith Gibson, Director of the VMI Museum System. Colonel Gibson assured Watson they had the Last Man bottle and were honored to be its caretaker. With the help of Colonel Gibson, past issues of the Striking Sixth, and an article in The Oregonian newspaper from 2008, we were able to fill in most of the missing history of the bottle.
At the 2005 reunion in Las Vegas, Reese Anderson of Oregon was the winning bidder for the bottle. His bid was $500, which he got from his daughter-in-law who won it playing poker. She told him to use the money to bring the bottle home.
Reese Anderson in 2008
For reasons we do not know, Reese did not attend the 2006 and 2007 reunions. He was, however, planning to attend the reunion in Oklahoma City in September 2008, which he thought was going to be the last Sixth Division reunion. He probably got this information from the Winter 2007 edition of the Striking Sixth, which mentioned some discussion of disbanding the Association and holding the final reunion in 2008. However, this never came to a vote.
Being a conscientious custodian of the bottle, Reese was concerned it would get lost in the dissolution of the Association, so he decided to donate it to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico. With the help of the commanding officer of the Marine Corps Recruiting Office in Portland, Oregon, he reached the head of curatorial services at the museum. He advised Reese to make a formal request to the museum after the annual reunion in the fall.
What happened next is not clear, but Reese did not attend the reunion in 2008. Our best guess is that the National Museum of the Marine Corps decided not to accept the bottle, and so Reese offered it to VMI.
It would have been wonderful if the bottle had continued to be auctioned at the annual reunions. Nevertheless, we were happy the bottle found a good home at General Shepherd’s alma mater.
But that wasn't enough to satisfy Watson. There was still the matter of the last toast. He asked Colonel Gibson at VMI if he would bring the bottle to Fredericksburg for the reunion. Colonel Gibson generously agreed to do this, but he said the bottle could not be opened because he feared it would be badly damaged. This was a big disappointment.
However, as Colonel Gibson was packing the bottle, he noticed the top was leaking very slightly. Under the circumstances, he concluded that it would be possible – and appropriate – for veterans to drink from the bottle.
Colonel Gibson pours shots for the veterans
And so the 50th and Final Reunion ended with the Sixth Division Marines in attendance toasting all of the members of the Sixth Division with a shot from the Last Man Bottle. They received a standing ovation from the dinner guests. It was magical ending!
***
“Never did I give a thought to being one of the last known survivors to drink a final toast to all the Marines who served in the Sixth Marine Division. I will always savor the taste of the scotch, as well as the moment.”
~ Watson Crumbie
Watson Crumbie at the 2021 Reunion
***
"It was a memorable and inspiring event to be with you all — the essence of what makes our country great.”
~ Colonel Keith Gibson
Colonel Keith Gibson at the 2021 Reunion
Being the creative and enterprising men that they were, they came up with an idea. They would auction the bottle each year and donate the proceeds to VMI, General Shepherd's alma mater. The winning bidder would become the custodian of the bottle until the next reunion.
There was one more piece to the plan. Many years down the road, the last two survivors of the Sixth Marine Division were to get together, open the bottle, and propose a final toast to all the Sixth Division Marines who who had passed before them.
Jack Hoag crafted an oak case for what became known as the Last Man Bottle. A plaque on the top of the case identified the bottle as “The property of the 6th Marine Division Association by order of General L. C. Shepherd U.S.M.C.”
Last Man Bottle
In February 1990, Jack took the bottle in its case to General Shepherd on his 94th (and last) birthday and explained the plans for the auction and donations to VMI. General Shepherd responded, “You boys are too kind.”
Later in 1990 at the annual reunion, James Chaisson became the first winning bidder for the Last Man Bottle. His name was engraved on a bronze plaque on the side of the bottle's oak case. Over the next 14 years, the name of the winning bidder was engraved on the case each year. Bidding for the bottle was aggressive, to the benefit of the scholarship fund at VMI.
triple winner Claud Wilkins in 2000
Everything went according to plan until the 2006 reunion when there was no bottle to auction, which upset a lot of people. There was still no bottle in the following years, and no one could remember who the last winning bidder was. A rumor circulated that the bottle had been donated to VMI, but no one followed up. Eventually everyone forgot all about it. That is, everyone except Watson Crumbie.
In fall 2020, Watson wrote a letter to the Striking Sixth explaining the history of the bottle as he remembered it. He had tried to contact the VMI museum, but it was closed due to Covid. He needed help locating it. With plans underway for our 50th and final reunion, it was time to solve the mystery. But no help came.
Not willing to give up, early in 2021 Watson reached Colonel Keith Gibson, Director of the VMI Museum System. Colonel Gibson assured Watson they had the Last Man bottle and were honored to be its caretaker. With the help of Colonel Gibson, past issues of the Striking Sixth, and an article in The Oregonian newspaper from 2008, we were able to fill in most of the missing history of the bottle.
At the 2005 reunion in Las Vegas, Reese Anderson of Oregon was the winning bidder for the bottle. His bid was $500, which he got from his daughter-in-law who won it playing poker. She told him to use the money to bring the bottle home.
Reese Anderson in 2008
For reasons we do not know, Reese did not attend the 2006 and 2007 reunions. He was, however, planning to attend the reunion in Oklahoma City in September 2008, which he thought was going to be the last Sixth Division reunion. He probably got this information from the Winter 2007 edition of the Striking Sixth, which mentioned some discussion of disbanding the Association and holding the final reunion in 2008. However, this never came to a vote.
Being a conscientious custodian of the bottle, Reese was concerned it would get lost in the dissolution of the Association, so he decided to donate it to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico. With the help of the commanding officer of the Marine Corps Recruiting Office in Portland, Oregon, he reached the head of curatorial services at the museum. He advised Reese to make a formal request to the museum after the annual reunion in the fall.
What happened next is not clear, but Reese did not attend the reunion in 2008. Our best guess is that the National Museum of the Marine Corps decided not to accept the bottle, and so Reese offered it to VMI.
It would have been wonderful if the bottle had continued to be auctioned at the annual reunions. Nevertheless, we were happy the bottle found a good home at General Shepherd’s alma mater.
But that wasn't enough to satisfy Watson. There was still the matter of the last toast. He asked Colonel Gibson at VMI if he would bring the bottle to Fredericksburg for the reunion. Colonel Gibson generously agreed to do this, but he said the bottle could not be opened because he feared it would be badly damaged. This was a big disappointment.
However, as Colonel Gibson was packing the bottle, he noticed the top was leaking very slightly. Under the circumstances, he concluded that it would be possible – and appropriate – for veterans to drink from the bottle.
Colonel Gibson pours shots for the veterans
And so the 50th and Final Reunion ended with the Sixth Division Marines in attendance toasting all of the members of the Sixth Division with a shot from the Last Man Bottle. They received a standing ovation from the dinner guests. It was magical ending!
“Never did I give a thought to being one of the last known survivors to drink a final toast to all the Marines who served in the Sixth Marine Division. I will always savor the taste of the scotch, as well as the moment.”
~ Watson Crumbie
Watson Crumbie at the 2021 Reunion
"It was a memorable and inspiring event to be with you all — the essence of what makes our country great.”
~ Colonel Keith Gibson
Colonel Keith Gibson at the 2021 Reunion
|
L. Cotton Gen L. C. Shepherd K. Davis J. Hoag J. J. Chaisson Bob Davis Lou Lang Cliff Gilbert Claud Wilkins Paul E. Ulrich Richard L. Fox Richard A. Whitaker James L. Day Claud Wilkins Claud Wilkins Paul E. Ulrich Orwald B. Aasland Howard C. Terry Reese Anderson |
11/06/89 11/10/89 11/11/89 12/05/89 09/01/90 09/28/91 08/29/92 09/29/93 09/24/94 08/28/95 09/07/96 08/30/97 09/19/98 09/03/99 09/2000 09/10/01 09/14/02 10/02/04 09/29/05 |
Watson Crumbie, Ken Wells and Neal McCallum toast the Sixth Marine Division |