27SEPT1942: In charge of a series of landing craft during the Battle of Guadalcanal, Signalman First Class Douglas Munro was tasked with dropping three companies of US Marines behind enemy lines early on the 27th. Soon after arriving back at the fleet, Munro was notified that the Marines were at risk of being overrun at which point he volunteered to go back in and pull them out. As enemy fire raked the beach, Munro led his team forward. As enemy fire intensified, Munro maneuvered his craft forward and as he manned a machine gun, and placed himself directly in the line of fire. Now attracting the bulk of the enemy attack, Munro allowed a window for the Marines to evacuate to his waiting ships. As he returned fire into the Japanese positions, Munro was struck and fatally wounded. As his craft backed away from the island, Munro's last words were, "Did they get off?" Succumbing shortly thereafter to his wounds, SM1 Douglas Munro would be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for saving upwards of 400 Marines that day. He is the only member of the Coast Guard to have received the award.

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