24OCT1942: During the Battle for Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Sgt John Basilone and his unit came under attack from a 3,000 strong enemy force. Commanding a section of heavy machine guns, Sgt Basilone held off the enemy attackers until on he and two Marines were left standing. With enemy forces on all sides, Basilone was forced to fight through Japanese attackers in order to pick up ammunition resupplies to keep his guns in the fight. Despite the extremely close range fighting, Sgt Basilone kept up continual, lethal fire even repairing a machine gun in the midst of battle to keep the enemy at bay. When he finally ran out of ammunition, Sgt Basilone used his pistol and machete to hold back the final Japanese troops until Marine reinforcements arrived. As morning came, nearly all of the 3,000 enemy Soldiers had perished. Likely over 200 of those coming at the hands of Sgt John Basilone. For his bravery and determination in the face of the heavy enemy assault, Sgt John Basilone would be awarded the Medal of Honor. Continuing service during the war and promoted to Gunnery Sergeant and was in the initial landings at Iwo Jima where he would again be decorated for heroism, this time with the Navy Cross. GySgt Basilone would be killed during the assault on Iwo Jima at the age of 28.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related