Around 100 people gathered at the Assembly of God Church in John Day on Saturday, April 20, to pay their respects to Kendall “Haff Dog” Haff, a Mt. Vernon resident who died on April 6 at the age of 66.

One of them was former U.S. Secretary of Defense James “Mad Dog” Mattis.

Haff was a gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps who served under Mattis in the Gulf War in 1991, when Mattis was a lieutenant colonel. Speaking at the funeral, Mattis called Haff the best Marine he ever served with.

During the operation to liberate Kuwait following the 1990 Iraqi invasion, Mattis was the battalion commander of 1st Battalion, 7th Marines. He eventually rose to the rank of four star general and ultimately commanded U.S. forces in the Gulf War, Afghanistan War and Iraq War. Mattis later became President Donald Trump’s first secretary of defense, serving in that role from January of 2017 until January of 2019.

Haff was born in Mesa, Arizona, on Dec. 21, 1957, and grew up in Keizer. He graduated from McNary High School a semester early and promptly enlisted in the Marine Corps in December of 1975.

During his 20 years of military service, Haff was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Southwest Asia Service Medal and the Kuwait Liberation Medal. He was also awarded a Bronze Star with Valor for his actions while serving in combat during the Gulf War.

The Bronze Star is a military award given to members of the U.S. Armed Forces for heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement or meritorious service in a combat zone. A combat “V” is authorized to wear on the medal if awarded by the Marine Corps, Navy or Coast Guard for acts of valor in combat.

It was Mattis who pinned the medal on Haff’s chest during a ceremony at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego on Nov. 17, 2017.

Fellow Marines Jim Wellborne and Jeff Hooks were with Haff when he performed the actions that earned him the Bronze Star. The pair describe Gunnery Sgt. Haff as a “Marine’s Marine” and make his wartime exploits sound like the stuff of legend.

Haff was working as the logistics chief for the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines combat train, which provided all of the support for the mechanized infantry ousting Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The combat train was comprised of noncombat troops like cooks and supply specialists.

On Feb. 25, 1991, during the battalion’s second day on the move from Saudi Arabia into Kuwait, the combat train found itself in a firefight after rolling into an unmapped rock quarry in the middle of the desert.

“Were were in a fight up front and before we knew it, we were in a fight in the rear, where the Iraqi infantry decided to step up and start shooting at us,” Hooks recalled.

In the middle of the chaos there was Haff Dog, exposing himself to enemy fire while organizing resistance to the attack. As one of only two people in the support unit with any type of infantry background, Haff organized the defense of the combat train, setting up fields of fire.

Haff also provided a sense of calm throughout the engagement, keeping up morale by inquiring about the personal lives of his Marines, asking them about the status of their loved ones and lives at home despite the daunting circumstances they were facing.

When the combat train was finally relieved by infantry, a brief 15-minute firefight eliminated all remaining enemy threats.

“They said 15 minutes, but it felt like it took forever,” Wellbourne said.

When all was said and done, Haff’s logistics unit had fired more rounds at the enemy than the Marine Corps infantry unit that was sent to reinforce it.

1st Battalion, 7th Marines didn’t lose a single person during Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield, according to Mattis. Speaking at Haff’s funeral, Mattis said that was the last time he’d brought everybody back home safe following a combat deployment, and he gave a large share of the credit for that achievement to Haff, whom he described as the battalion’s “most valuable player.”

A pair of video presentations highlighting Haff’s life were played for attendees, and a pair of Marine Corps staff sergeants folded an American flag and presented it to Haff’s widow, Jackie.

Haff’s sister Diane Rodman highlighted his generosity and selflessness, echoing the testimony of men who served with Haff in the Marines and men who knew him after his military service.

Many residents of the Grant County community of Mt. Vernon recalled Haff taking time out of his day to make sure they were taken care of, from gathering and splitting firewood for local veterans to donating his time to help clean up and maintain parks and checking in on friends when noticing suspicious or strange circumstances.

Some of the most endearing words of the day, however, were spoken by Mattis, a towering figure in U.S. military history who thought the gunnery sergeant’s passing was important enough to make his way to John Day to eulogize his fallen comrade.

Mattis said that for every person Haff served with who attended the funeral, of which there were a dozen or so, 100 would have made the trip out to John Day to honor the man if they could have.

“The gunny just had a force of personality; he set a personal example of devotion — of being harder than petrified woodpecker lips,” Mattis said. “He was the quintessential Marine. … He was the best Marine I ever served with.”

Even though Mattis was Haff’s commanding officer, he spoke of the sergeant as a man he looked up to.

“I’m an average Marine, but I often needed an example or a role model,” Mattis said. “I often fell back on Gunny Haff as an example.”

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