Remembering Dennis Bagley
Belmont Abbey hoops star, Vietnam casualty, friend remembered 51 years after his death
Note: The group is considering naming the CABAC’s history scholarship after Dennis Bagley.
He was the son of a former slave. He stood out on the basketball court as a teenager. He earned a Purple Heart Medal before dying in Vietnam at age 22. His name is etched in history on the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.
Dennis Bagley lived a short life, but his accomplishments on the Belmont Abbey basketball court and as a Marine have been felt by many for years.
The New Jersey native was a highly-prized basketball recruit. Belmont Abbey College caught his interest in 1965 and soon he was running up and down Haid Gymnasium court for a team led by men’s basketball coach William Clarke. He was one of two Black men to break the color barrier on the school’s team in 1966.
Brian Clarke, William’s son, remembers his dad recruiting Bagley and fellow Northern player Willis Dargon to the North Carolina college. William Clarke, who also coached the soccer team, had just taken over from his friend, legendary coach Al McGuire.
“‘Bags’ was a pure joy to watch play”
Bagley emerged as a leader on the court. Already a prolific high school scorer at West Side High in Newark, he had 382 points in his senior season. For the Crusaders, he picked up outstanding freshman of the year honors and won awards as the top varsity player in his sophomore and junior seasons. He scored 444 points during the 1966-67 season. He made friends easily and lived in suite 209 in O’Connell Dorm that year. Known for his smile, classmates recalled his standup comedy routine while wearing a gold jumpsuit at the Abbey Revue that spring.
Former Abbey teammate and friend Larry Bembry played at a rival high school in New Jersey. He played with his close friend Dargon who also ended up at The Abbey with Charles Landrum, another Black student to play on the team.
Both Bembry and Brian Clarke remembered his shooting technique.
“Bags was a tenacious competitor,” Bembry said. “Yes, he had an awkward looking shot, but it was deadly. He was a true leader of the team. He never rattled under pressure.”
As a teenager, Bagley was a favorite in the Clarke house.
“‘Bags’ was a pure joy to watch play,” Clark noted on the Wall of Faces website. “(He) had the craziest-looking jumpshot ever! Arms cocked back behind and to the side of his head, lead leg "kicking." He had fun, but was also an intense competitor - who could shoot the lights out!”
As racial integration was slowly happening in North Carolina and other states in the 1960s, Brian Clarke remembers his dad giving the Black students “the talk” about being careful traveling in town. While the private Benedictine college was welcoming to Black students, some local areas were not.
Bembry, who would later go on take part in a student protest at the Science Building Takeover in 1969, said his time, like Bagley’s, was both fun and challenging amid the racial tension.
“We were inseparable as friends at the Abbey,” Bembry said. “We all liked and appreciated Coach Clarke for giving us the opportunity to play college ball. He was a tough task master as a coach. While we had some happy times as students, it was also very challenging as Black men at a predominantly white institution in the South. Unfortunately, basketball became a secondary focus in our lives.”
Bagley’s college basketball career eventually gave way to serving his country. There’s some confusion as to Bagley’s entrance into the Marines. Some, at the time, thought it was due to grades. Others said that seniors were forced off campus due to construction during the 1967-68 school year resulting in lost student statuses and draft eligibility.
Bembry said his friend became despondent and depressed during his junior year.
“When he told me that he was dropping out to join the Marines, I personally pleaded with him to change his mind without success. It was the height of the Vietnam War during 1968-1969.”
Bagley went to basic training in the Carolinas in 1967 and joined the corps officially in May 1968. His deployment to Vietnam came in the fall of that year. Soon he was traveling dangerous paths in enemy territory. Tragically, he was a victim of an ammunition dump explosion in Quang Nam almost eight months later.
“You were a special Marine and a hero.”
Second Lt. Daniel Gardner, Bagley’s third platoon leader, looked back on his time at war, serving with Bagley.
Both men were part of the 3rd Platoon of Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion with the 1st Marines that year, risking their lives while avoiding boobytraps on day and night patrols. The men took part in Operation Pipestone Canyon, a situation so fraught with danger men referred to the scene as The Wild West. Bagley was one of 71 Americans killed during the 167-day operation.
“There is no moment involved in war that is ordinary,” Gardner wrote on the Wall of Faces website in a tribute to Bagley. “But through the calamity of it all you kept yourself together, you sustained the Marines around you, you provided courageous leadership skillfully, and because of that you will continue to be remembered as a heroic Marine. I was not with you when the ammo dump exploded, having been wounded and hospitalized a month earlier, but I was saddened when I learned of your death soon after.”
Bembry soon learned of Bagley’s death on July 6 and attended the funeral services days later.
“His death was devastating to all of us as teammates and friends,” Bembry said.
Bagley’s death was tough for the Clarke family. Brian Clarke’s brother was also serving in Vietnam at that time.
“It affected my father immensely,” Clarke said. “Since he'd believed that the young man he'd recruited out of the projects in Newark had so much promise and that a college education would be a huge benefit toward that future.”
Bembry has visited the Wall.
“I cried uncontrollably, as I touched his name on the wall,” he said.
In addition to his Purple Heart medal, Bagley has several medals and ribbons including: Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon, National Defence Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with 2 Stars, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Frame & Palm, Vietnam Civic Action Medal with Frame and Palm and the Vietnam Campaign Medal.
Gardner has always remembered the young marine’s service.
“I did know you as a competent squad leader whose marines followed him willingly,” Gardner recounted. “I remember your constant smile and your good-natured attitude. As your platoon leader, I was always confident that you would get the job done no matter the circumstances. During the toughest moments of combat, your leadership was at its best. You were a special Marine and a hero. It was my honor to have served with you.”
-Matthew Memrick for The CABAC Voice newsletter
Photo credits: The Spire Yearbook, Newark Star-Ledger obituary, Findagrave.com
What an unbelievable tribute to my friend, gifted teammate, and a great human being. I am blessed to know that Dennis Bagley was a part of my life experience. Thank you. Larry Bembry, BAC 1966-1969.
I was a student at the Abbey during those years. Any conversation about the Abbey basketball team. from thise days should also include point guard Greg Patton from Second Ward High School in Charlotte and center Frank Zinke. Patton, Bembry, Dargon, Bagley, Landrum and Zinke. Great team.