CN Patrick Brown

3 U.S. Navy Officers Slain
In Subic Naval Base Ambush
Pacific Stars and Stripes
Monday, April 15, 1974, pg. 1

MANILA - Three American naval officers were shot and killed in an ambush Saturday while inspecting road construction in an isolated corner of the big Subic Bay U.S. naval base, 50 miles northwest of Manila, a Navy spokesman said.

"There is no indication at this time" that Communist Hukbalahap guerrillas killed the officers, the spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Keith Schacher, said in reply to a question. "We are conducting an investigation of this tragic incident and we certainly won't speculate on anything."

The men were identified by a Navy spokesman at Gulfport, Miss., as Cmdr. Leland R. Dobler, commanding officer of the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 based at Gulfport; Lt. Charles H. Jeffries, officer in charge of a detachment of the 133rd; and Capt. T.J. Mitchell, commander of the 30th Naval Construction Regiment.

The Navy spokesman said the men were assigned to construction units at the Subic Bay base. A team working on the road was evacuated after the shooting the spokesman said.

The 133rd is one of three Seabee battalions with headquarters at Gulfport. The 565-man battalion was deployed to the Philippines in February.

The three were riding a jeep Saturday morning along a boundary road on the north-eastern edge of the base when they were shot.

"The group was on an inspection tour traveling toward a Seabee (construction battalion) team working on the northern section of the road," Schacher said. He said the ambush site was within the base itself and about seven miles from the base headquarters.

Schacher said members of the Seabee team about half a mile away heard the shooting and rushed to the scene to find the three officers dead.

The naval station was promptly notified and a CH46 medical evacuation helicopter with a doctor flew to the site, the spokesman said. "A Marine unit, an ambulance and a Philippine constabulary (national police) team also rushed to assist," Schacher said.

The scene of the shooting was the foot of a mountainous area south of Mt. Santa Rita about three miles from an American communications relay station. Work on the boundary road began about two months ago so as to clearly mark the perimeter of the base.

Subic Bay is a major repair and supply base for the U.S. 7th Fleet.

Lawmen Comb Subic Bay Area For Killers of 3
Pacific Stars and Stripes
Tuesday, April 16, 1974, pg. 6

Authorities said a team of U.S. Marines and the Philippine constabulary national police found "evidence of unknown persons having camped" along the isolated road where the ambush occurred.

No suspects and no witnesses have been found, authorities said.

The three men killed in the ambush included Capt. Thomas J. Mitchell, Philadelphia naval base, Pa.; Cmdr. Leland R. Dobler, Long Beach, Miss., originally from York, Neb.; and Lt. Charles H. Jeffries II Virginia Beach, Va.

Mitchell was commander of the 30th Naval Construction Regiment in Guam. Dobler was commanding officer of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (CB) 133 based at Camp Shields, Futema, Okinawa, Japan. Jeffries was officer-in-charge of the CB 133 detail at Subic. The home base for all three was Gulfport, Miss.

Authorities said the three were shot and killed while riding in a jeep to inspect a newly constructed road along the eastern boundary of the Subic Bay base.

Subic Bay, 50 miles northwest of Manila, is a major repair and supply base for the U.S. Seventh Fleet.

Communist Hukbalahap guerrillas have been operating for years in the mountains of Zambales province where Subic is located. But a Navy spokesman said there was no indication the Huks were involved.

Constabulary troopers searched the area outside the base while U.S. Navy and Marine searchers looked for signs of the assailants inside the base, authorities said.

Lt. Cmdr. Keith Schacher, a Navy spokesman, said it was the first time U.S. Navy personnel had been ambushed at Subic.

The bodies of the slain Americans were at the base hospital awaiting plans for shipment by their relatives, authorities said.

3 Officers' Remains Are Flown to U.S.
Pacific Stars and Stripes
Friday, April 19, 1974, pg. 6

S&S Staff Writer

CLARK AB, R.P. - The bodies of three U.S. Navy Seabee officers, who were ambushed last Saturday at Subic Bay NB were flown from Clark AB to Travis AFB, Calif., Tuesday then taken to Treasure Island Naval Dispensary, Calif., a U.S. Navy spokesman said Thursday.

From Treasure Island, the bodies were to be flown to destinations instructed by the next of kin, he said.

The officers were identified as Capt. Thomas J. Mitchell of Philadelphia NB, Pa., commander of the 30th Naval Construction Regt. in Guam; Cmdr. Leland R. Dobler of Long Beach, Miss., originally from York, Neb., commanding officer of the Naval Mobile Construction Bn. (CB) 133 based at Camp Shields, Japan, and Lt. Charles H. Jeffries II of Virginia Beach, Va., officer-in-charge of the CB133. Gulfport, Miss., was their home base.

The spokesman said a search of the base by Marines of a joint American/Filipino investigation team was called off late Tuesday afternoon. A formal investigation is still under way, he added.

A planeside memorial service at Subic was held for the three late Sunday with over 100 officers, enlisted men and civilians from the Public Works Center, Subic Bay, and U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps and Seabee units in the Philippines attending, the spokesman added.

The three officers were shot and killed while they were driving in a jeep along a newly constructed road on the north-eastern ridge of the base.

Mitchell’s wife, Lois, said her husband would be buried Friday at Arlington National Cemetery.

Dobler/Jeffries/Mitchell Services

Brown Services

On 9 April 1999 services were held at the Seabee Memorial Chapel at CBC, Gulfport, MS, with a reception afterward. It was well attended by the families of the slain officers, and former and current officers and men of 133.

See emails & photos from this Dobler/Jeffries/Mitchell Memorial Service.