12/27/2021
I met Richard "Dick" Marcinko several years ago at Shot Show. A friend, with whom I was writing a book, asked Dick to let me shadow him and question him for the book.
Instead of just allowing me to shadow him, Dick took me under his wing, took me everywhere with him and his crew. We talked about many things over that week and I witnessed the Marcinko charisma that captivated all those who came into his presence. I called it his vortex...they just got sucked into his personality!
His personal protection team along with us, but near invisible unless you knew who they were, I got to know the man behind the legend.
I have a couple of recorded interviews with Dick, when we weren't at Shot Show, that I'll make available soon. He was a surprisingly sweet man, honorable and intelligent, and a total gentleman. I'll never forget him.
Controversial? Of course he was. What trailblazer hasn't been? And what a fearless trailblazer Dick was! He got things done that no one thought could be accomplished, and he changed, for the better, the face of Naval Special Operations, forever.
The Museum is very saddened to learn of the passing of Richard "Dick" Marcinko. "Demo Dick" was a retired U.S. Navy SEAL commander and Vietnam War veteran. He was the first commanding officer of SEAL Team SIX.
In January of 1967, Marcinko deployed to Vietnam with 2nd Platoon, SEAL Team TWO. On May 18, 1967, Marcinko led his men in an assault on Ilo Ilo Hon where they killed many Viet Cong and destroyed six of their sampans. This became known as the Navy's most successful SEAL operation in the Mekong Delta. Because of his strong leadership and great success, the North Vietnamese Army placed a bounty on his head, payable to anyone who could capture and kill him. Marcinko was never caught; he went on to be awarded the first of four Bronze Stars, as well as a Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and the Silver Star.
After returning stateside and serving as Officer-in-Charge of 8th Platoon from Dec 1967 to June 1968, Marcinko went back to Vietnam with SEAL Team TWO. During the Tet Offensive, which coincided with the Vietnamese Tet holiday, North Vietnam launched a massive invasion against the major urban areas of South Vietnam. Marcinko directed his platoon to assist U.S. Army Special Forces at Châu Đốc. What started as an urban street battle evolved into an intense rescue mission of American nurses and a schoolteacher trapped in the city's hospital and church.
After completing his second tour in Vietnam, and following a two-year staff assignment in the U.S., Marcinko was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. He was assigned as the Naval Attache to Cambodia in 1973, where he served for a year and a half before returning to the United States to assume command of SEAL Team TWO from 1974 to 1976.
During the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, Marcinko was one of two Navy representatives for a Joint Chiefs of Staff task force known as the Terrorist Action Team (TAT). TAT's mission and purpose was to develop a plan to free American hostages in Iran, which ultimately culminated with Operation Eagle Claw. After this tragic operation, the Navy recognized a need for a full-time dedicated counter-terrorist team and charged Marcinko with its design and development.
Marcinko was selected by the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Thomas B. Hayward, as the first commanding officer of this new group. At the time, the Navy had only two SEAL Teams. Marcinko named the unit "SEAL Team SIX" in order to fool other nations, notably the Soviet Union, into believing that the United States had at least three other SEAL Teams that they did not have knowledge of. The creator of SEAL Team SIX, Marcinko hand-selected the Team's members from across the existing SEAL Teams and Underwater Demolition Teams, including a special counter-terrorist tactics division of SEAL Team TWO, codenamed MOB-6. SEAL Team SIX became the Navy's leading counter-terrorist and hostage rescue unit. Marcinko commanded SEAL Team SIX for three years, from 1980 to 1983.
Dick Marcinko played a very unique part in SEAL history, leaving a legacy like no other. “Demo Dick” is considered the United States’ premier counterterrorism operator. We send our deepest sympathies to his family, teammates, and friends.
