William C. Fite III
Scholarship

Having graduated from the University of Alabama and while attending law school, William joined the United States Marine Corps. He entered on duty on February 4, 1966, and was ordered to report to the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia. Commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in May 1966 with a military occupational specialty of an infantry officer, Lt. Fite arrived in Vietnam on December 20, 1966. He was assigned to an infantry company of the 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment. The battalion arrived at the Khe Sahn Combat Base on May 4, 1967, and took command of the Khe Sahn area on May 11, 1967. The Marines of the 26th Marine Regiment were engaged with enemy forces until relieved by the 1st Marine Regiment on April 15, 1968. The 26th Marine Regiment would receive the Presidential Unit Citation and the Navy Unit Commendation awards.

With his tour of duty drawing to a close, 1st Lieutenant Fite extended his tour for one year to serve as an Assistant Senior Military Advisor with the 4th Vietnamese Marine Corps Battalion. The Vietnamese Marines were heavily engaged with enemy forces during the Battle of Hue City. Again, extending his tour in Vietnam, William, now a Captain, took command of “H” Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. “H” Company, or Hotel Company as it was known, operated out of the An Hoa base searching for enemy forces in what was known as the Arizona Territory. Severely wounded by enemy fire in late April 1969, Captain Fite was evacuated to the military hospital at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines for nearly a month and then transferred to the National Navy Medical Center located in Bethesda, Maryland. Discharged from the Navy’s medical center in August 1969, Captain Fite was assigned to the Quantico Marine base to attend Amphibious Warfare School.

Having completed his assignment at the Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School, Captain Fite took command of the Marine Corps Institute (MCI) Company, part of the ceremonial command of the famous Marine Barracks, 8th & I, Washington, D. C. The mission of MCI Company was multi-faceted and was carried out by enlisted Marines who were deployed out of Vietnam to Okinawa, interviewed and selected by Captain Fite for assignment to the Washington, D. C. barracks. The company of Marines at the Marine Corps Institute was not only responsible for developing and administering the many Marine Corps Correspondence Courses integral to promotions but was also one of two companies of Marines that performed ceremonial duties. These ceremonial duties included scheduled Wednesday or Thursday Evening Parades for special and noted guests and officials, Friday Evening Parades at the Barracks and open to the public, Tuesday Sunset Parades open to the public at the Iwo Jima Memorial located in the Arlington National Cemetery, and military funerals for fallen Marines being interred in the Arlington National Cemetery.

Following his command of the MCI Company, William served on exchange duty from late 1972 until mid-1974 with the British Royal Marines commanding Company G, 41 Commando, based on Malta. Returning to the U. S. Marines, he then served as the S-4 for the 3rd Battalion of the 9th Marine Regiment in Okinawa, Japan from August 1974 to August 1975. During this assignment, William was promoted to Major and subsequently, in September 1975, assigned to the U. S. Marines Headquarters, in Washington, D. C. where he served as the Recruit Training Officer in the Training Division, and then as the aide-de-camp for the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps during 1979-1980.

Major Fite then attended the Marine Corps Command and Staff College after which he remained at Officer Candidate School at Quantico during the summer of 1980 to command a Platoon Leaders Class company. In October 1980, Major Fite reported to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twenty-Nine Palms, California where he served as Infantry Representative, Tactical Exercise, Evaluation, and Control Group. Remaining at 29 Palms, Major Fite was promoted and, as Lieutenant Colonel Fite, placed in command of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines. Lt. Colonel Fite subsequently served as the G-3 Operations Officer for the 7th Marine Amphibious Brigade.

Departing Twenty-Nine Palms in 1984, William arrived in London to attend the Royal College of Defense Studies. Returning to the United States he was assigned again to Headquarters, United States Marine Corps in December 1984 to serve as a plans officer in the Plans, Policies, and Operations Department. In June 1987 he was advanced in rank to Colonel.

Over the final six years of his military career, Colonel Fite was in command of the Headquarters and Service Battalion, Marine Corps Base, Camp S.D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan. Thereafter, Colonel Fite was the G-3 Operations Officer and Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3, until January 1990 when he assumed command of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. This expeditionary unit, while under the command of Colonel Fite, served two deployments of six and seven months at sea and afloat with the U. S. Navy’s Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean theater. In February 1992, Colonel Fite was assigned as the Officer in Charge of Special Operations Training Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In July 1992, Colonel Fite assumed the duties of Chief of Staff, at Marine Corps Combat Development Command, Quantico, Virginia. Colonel Fite retired in July 1993.

Colonel Fite is the recipient of many military awards. In addition to the Silver Star and Purple Heart awarded to Colonel Fite, he is the recipient of the two Military Legion of Merit awards, the Bronze Star with combat V device, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with combat V device, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with combat V device, the Vietnamese Honor Medal for the Hue City action, the Presidential Unit Citation ribbon, the Navy Unit Commendation ribbon, and the Marine Corps Combat Action Ribbon.