MSGT Albert W. Dilworth

Albert Wilson Dilworth Master Sergeant, US Marine Corps, Retired MSGT Albert W. (Al), Dilworth, 97, recently of West Jefferson, and previously from Dundalk, Maryland, died on Saturday, September 8, 2012, from Congestive Heart failure, at Ashe Memorial Hospital, West Jefferson, North Carolina. Mr. Dilworth was born on January 11, 1915 in Baltimore, Maryland to Mae Trew Seibert and Chester Wilson Dilworth. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Marjorie Post. MSGT Dilworth was, above all, a proud Marine. He was a “China Marine” of which very few still survive. Enlisting in the Marine Corps in 1933 in order to escape a broken home in the middle of the Great Depression, Al found the home he never had in the Marine Corps. After serving aboard the USS Nevada, a battleship, as part of the Marine Security Guard force and participating in military expeditions to Panama and several of the Caribbean Islands, MSGT Dilworth found himself in Beijing, China in 1937 and would serve in Beijing and then Shanghai until November 1940, when the 6th Marine Division was withdrawn from China as the Japanese continued their invasion of the Chinese mainland. Rather than going to the Philippines with the rest of the Division, because of his experience and grade, Al was recalled to the US where he began training the large influx of Marine Corps personnel enlisted and drafted after the start of World War II. In 1944 he began training for the invasion of Okinawa in which he participated in 1945. After the Battle of Okinawa, since he was an old China hand at this point, he found himself back in Tsingtao, (now Qingdao), in Northern China, overseeing the surrender of Japanese forces at the end of the war. In 1948/49, with the Chinese Communists rapidly gaining the advantage in the Chinese Civil War, MSGT Dilworth once again returned to China and working from West to East, helped evacuate American missionaries and US and Allied diplomatic personnel from the Chinese mainland. Through all of this, Dilly, as he was affectionately called by his men, gained a reputation for always looking out for the Marines who worked for him and was known for never uttering a bad word about anyone. Al ended his active duty service as the Chief of the Marine Security Delegation at the recently built new American Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark. Retiring from active duty in 1954, MSGT Dilworth spent another 10 years in the Marine Corps Reserve before retiring completely from the Marine Corps. In reality, he never retired from the Corps. Once a Marine, always a Marine. Al, a trained and experienced Security Officer would subsequently work for Martin-Marrietta Aviation Company, the Library of Congress, the Maryland State Penitentiary, and the, Maryland Port Authority. After retirement Al was an active participant in a variety of veteran service organizations and in 2000 was declared by the Veterans Administration to be 100% disabled as a result of service connected disabilities. MSGT Dilworth is survived by his wife of 70 years, Beatrice Jackson Dilworth of West Jefferson, (recently of Dundalk, Maryland), his Daughter and Son in Law, Joyce and Jim Cain of West Jefferson, North Carolina and numerous nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews scattered across America. A viewing is scheduled from 2:00-4:00pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012 at Boone Family Funeral Home in West Jefferson and a second viewing at Connelly Funeral Home in Dundalk, Maryland on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 from 2:00-4:00pm and 7:00-9:00pm. Burial with full military honors will follow at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to one of the following organizations: The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation Suite 104 3800 Fettler Park Drive Dumfries, VA 22025 Phone: 1-800-397-7585 Smile Train Headquarters 41 Madison Avenue 28th Floor New York, New York 10010 Phone: 1-800-932-9544 ATTN: Priscilla Ma Doctors Without Borders-USA PO Box 5030 Hagerstown, Maryland 21744-5030 Phone: 212-763-5779 Limbs for Life Foundation 218 E. Main Street Oklahoma City, OK 73104 Phone: 1-888-235-5462 Semper Fi Al. You were a model Marine and a good man. We’ll miss you.