Joseph Anthony LeGarde
Era: Persian Gulf
Military Branch: Marines
Joseph Anthony Le Garde
Mr. Le Garde served in the U.S. Marine Corps for a total of twenty-one years. He began his service in the role of mortarman. By the time he retired, he was chief instructor at the U.S. Marine Corps Non-Commissioned Officers School.
During his more than three decades of service, he made a total of six deployments overseas. Mr. Le Garde served in Saudi Arabia in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. He served there with the 7th Marine Expeditionary Brigade.
Mr. Le Garde retired from the U.S. Marines in August 2000.
Mr. Le Garde was born in January 1961 in Grand Marais, Minnesota. He is a member of the Grand Portage Band of Ojibway and comes from a long line of military men.
He graduated from Central High School in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1979. Before graduating, he had already enlisted with the U.S. Marine Corps.
During Operation Desert Storm, he was decorated with the Silver Star for actions against Iraqi forces.
Source: Drawn from information provided by veteran (see below).
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Joe was born in January 1961 in Grand Marais, Minnesota. He is member of the Grand Portage Band of Ojibway, and he comes from a family that is very familiar with the military. His maternal grandfather, Alexis Grandlouis, served during WWI, while his father and uncles all served in the Army, Navy, or Air Force.
Prior to his graduation from Duluth Central High School in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1979, Joe had enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Following boot camp, Joe was given the Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) of 0341, mortarman. He was assigned duties at Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
When Joe reenlisted, he made an MOS change to 0352, anti-tank assaultman; he was assigned to the 1st Tank Battalion at Camp Pendleton, California. While with the Anti-Tank (TOW) Company, Joe was able to make the first of his six overseas deployments with his platoon on a six-month float aboard the USS Peleliu LHA-5.
Joe next received orders to Drill Instructor School at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. After training there, he was given the secondary MOS of 8511, drill instructor. He participated in the training cycles of nine platoons.
Joe was transferred to the 3rd Tank Battalion in 29 Palms, California and made two deployments with two different platoons overseas to Okinawa, Japan. He was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant, which changed his MOS to 0369, small unit infantry leader. Upon returning from that second deployment, the 7th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) was deployed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield and then Operation Desert Storm. During operation Desert Storm, Joe was awarded the Silver Star Medal for actions against Iraqi forces.
When the 7th MEB returned to 29 Palms, Joe received orders to the Marine Security Force Battalion for schooling and reassignment to the Marine Security Force Company in Concord, California. He was assigned to duties as platoon sergeant. When the company in Concord ended their mission and closed in 1994, Joe received orders back to the 1st Marine Division.
He was assigned to the G-7 of the 1st Marine Division, working in the Human Affairs Office until the fall of 1996.
He was reassigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines of the 1st Marine Division. While with the 2/4, he made two more deployments with the battalion. Upon returning stateside each time, he was assigned to Headquarters and Support Battalion as chief instructor at the Non-Commissioned Officers School.
Joe requested retirement in the fall of 1999 and was given the retirement date of August 2000.
