14MAR1945: Fighting during the deadly battle of Iwo Jima, Pvt Franklin Sigler and his company had been held up by an enemy machine gun position for days. As his unit began, once more, to attack the position, his squad leader was hit and wounded. Without hesitation, Sigler took command of the squad and moved forward. Leading the charge against the enemy position, Sigler was first to reach the dugout at which point he destroyed the entire Japanese crew with hand grenades. Right then, Sigler and his men started to take fire from multiple directions as Japanese soldiers emerged from additional cave entrances and tunnels across the hillside. Climbing directly at the Japanese soldiers, Sigler reached their position and again destroyed multiple positions. Severely wounded in the attack, Sigler moved back to his men where he refused evacuation and instead directed machine gun and rocket fire into the cave entrances. Refusing to stop, Sigler then moved three of his wounded brothers away from the front lines before he was finally ordered to seek medical treatment for himself. For his heroic assault into the Japanese attack and never stopping to care for his men, Pvt Franklin Sigler would be awarded the Medal of Honor.

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