Don Lumsden of Englewood, Fla. oldest living “Frogman” in U.S.A. fought in the Philippines.

In Bronze Star, U.S. Navy, World War II on January 11, 2012 at 4:38 am

Former Lt. j.g. Don Lumsden of Boca Royale, Englewood, Fla. is pictured off Borneo in the South Pacific during World War II. He was a "Frogman" returning from a reconnoiter of the Japanese-held island. Photo provided

At 90 Don Lumsden of Boca Royale subdivision in Englewood, Fla. has the distinction of being the oldest living “Frogman” in the United States of America. He learned about this honor a few days ago from Mike Howard, Director of the Seal Museum in Fort Pierce, Fla.

“He called me the other day and told me, ‘A group of us were trying to figure out who was the oldest ‘Frogman’. It didn’t take us long to figure out it was you,’” Lumsden said.

He joined the Navy in 1943 while attending Northeastern University in New Hampshire. After Naval officers training, Lumsden wound up in Fort Pierce and became a “Frogman” all because he was a good swimmer.

The training was brief and tough. Those who graduated took a boat to Maui, Hawaii for advanced training. After graduation his group became Underwater Demolition Team 11.

Almost immediately they were part of the invasion fleet for the Battle of Iwo Jima. Lumsden and his fellow “Frogmen” hit the beach at Iwo to check for underwater obstacles and water depth before the Marines went ashore.

Lumsden holds the flippers, mask and knife he used during the invasions of Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Borneo when he served as a "Frogman" in World War II. Sun photo by Don Moore

During the Tarawa invasion earlier, Marines hadn’t surveyed the landing beach before they invaded. As a consequence, they paid for it with the lives of scores of dead “Leathernecks” who drowned when they stepped off their landing crafts into deep water, or their boats hit submerged obstacles. After the Tarawa fiasco all invasion beaches were inspected by UDT teams before the assault.

With nothing more than a pair of flippers, a mask, a knife and some explosives, Lumsden and his fellow “Frogmen” were dropped two-miles off the beach and told to reconnoiter and clear the way for the invasion force.

During the Battle of Iwo Jima, he was hurt when the explosive they were using unexpectedly detonated injuring several in the advanced party. Lumsden recovered in time to take part in the Okinawa invasion, the largest island battle in the Pacific during World War II.

However, it was the island of Borneo, his third landing, he remembers best.

“Our explosives were in haversacks. They were in sticks with fuses sticking out the top. Our job was to put a stick around each piling obstruction the Japanese had buried along the shore to stop the Allied landing craft from coming ashore,” Lumsden recalled.

Each charge was connected to a single cord attached to a detonator they hooked up off shore on the way back to their ship. Once they blew up the Japanese beach obstructions the “Frogmen” were picked up as they bobbed in the sea by a high speed boat.

“The first night off Borneo, after we had gone ashore and checked out the beach we had to meet with MacArthur and brief him on what we had discovered about the landing beach.” Lumsden said six decades later. “Here I am telling the greatest general in the whole world he should change his invasion plans based on what we had discovered about the beach, and he did.

“He was so polite and he didn’t talk down to me. I was so amazed how MacArthur acted I haven’t gotten over it til this day.”

Lumsden received a Bronze Star for clearing obstacles from the invasion beach at Borneo and providing the Supreme Allied Commander in the South Pacific details about the condition of the shoreline.

His commendation reads in part:

“The President of he United States takes pleasure in presenting Lt. j.g. Donald James Lumsden, USN Reserve, the Bronze Star for his heroic accomplishments as Section Leader during the invasion of Balikpapan, Borneo, June 26 to 30, 1945.

“For the President
“James Forrestal
“Secretary of the Navy”

In 1989 Lumsden and his wife, Brenda, moved to Boca Royale to retire.

Source: http://donmooreswartales.com

Lumsden’s File

Name: Donald James Lumsden
D.O.B: 26 Jan. 1922
Hometown: Brighton, Mass.
Currently: Englewood, Fla.
Entered Service: 1 July 1943
Discharged: 12 June 1946
Rank: Lieutenant j.g.
Unit: Underwater Demolition Team 11
Commendations: Bronze Star with V for Valor, Philippine Liberation Medal with one Battle Star, American Theatre Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific Theatre Ribbon with 3 Battle Stars, World War II Victory Ribbon
Battles/Campaigns: Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Borneo