US Navy Beach Jumpers Association

Austin G. Olney and Units 6 & 7

Austin G. Olney was born in 1923 in Boston Massachusetts. Mr. Olney attended and graduated from Milton Academy and also Harvard College prior to entering the Navy during World War II, where he served as a Lieutenant in Beach Jumper Unit 6. While in training on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, in 1944, LT. Olney sketched an image of a combination of the front half of a blue bird, the back half of a bee with a large stinger, and six legs that held up the numbers 6 and 7. At the foreground were the letters B J. The sketch was labeled " The unofficial logo by Austin Olney 1944".

Did Lt. Olney have some insight into the fate of these Beach Jumper Units, we will never know? The centuries old phrase `to be at 6’s and 7’s’ implies that you are at a loss or in a state of being where you cannot reliably take action.
The Beach Jumpers in Units 6, 7, 8 and 9 would not learn of there assignments until they got overseas. After training in Ocracoke, they would board troop trains and travel across county for assignment to ships being deployed overseas. They had volunteered for extra hazardous duty and were up for whatever was thrown their way.
Would they be put into harms way. . .yes, . . . but most would return home and yet some would make the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
After being discharged from active duty in 1946, Austin Olney, still in his Navy uniform walked into Houghton Mifflin Publishing House, in Boston, Mass., for a job interview. He was hired and would remain with the company until 1988 when he retired as the Senior Vice President of the Trade and Reference Division. Austin Olney would spend his last years of retirement in New Hampshire where sadly on March 6, 2008 he passed away. Prior to his passing I had made vigorous attempts to locate Mr. Olney and speak to him not only about his naval service but also his hand drawn logo. Unfortunately, I located him about one week after his passing. We will never really know his reason behind the logo design.

Officially, the only recognized patch of the Beach Jumpers during World War II seems to have been the red and gold Amphibious Forces patch as far as can be determined. Beach Jumper Units 1 through 11 were deactivated after the war. In the early 50’s Beach Jumper Units 1 & 2 were reactivated. The Unit 1 mask patch and the Unit 2 kangaroo patch would be officially adopted by those Beach Jumper Units and remain as their official insignias. The U.S. Navy Beach Jumpers Association official insignia is a design combination of segments of both of the Units 1 & 2 patches.

The men assigned to Units 1 thru 11 were pledged to silence about the activities of the Navy Beach Jumper. Those who returned after the war were unlikely to even discuss with their families their experiences as a Beach Jumper. Several of our associate members learned of their fathers Navy duty as a Beach Jumper only after his passing. The history of these units were closed and classified after the war. Beach Jumpers never really received the recognition they deserved. We all owe our lives today not only to these veterans but to all of our country’s veterans.

It has been almost 65 years, since the Units 6 & 7 logo was created and the U.S. Navy Beach Jumpers Association would like to officially adopt the design sketched by Lt. Austin Olney as an official logo of Units 6 & 7 by proclaiming the following resolution.