World War II
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World War II Medal Of Honor Recipients
Saipan and Tinian Battles
These eight soldiers were awarded the Congressional
Medal Of Honor, the highest military decoration of the United States
armed forces, for their actions in the Battle for Saipan or the Battle
for Tinian.
*AGERHOLM, HAROLD CHRIST
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
Born: 29 January 1925, Racine, Wis. Accredited to: Wisconsin. Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above
and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 4th Battalion, 10th
Marines, 2d Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on
Saipan, Marianas Islands, 7 July 1944. When the enemy launched a fierce,
determined counterattack against our positions and overran a neighboring
artillery battalion, Pfc. Agerholm immediately volunteered to assist in
the efforts to check the hostile attack and evacuate our wounded. Locating
and appropriating an abandoned ambulance jeep, he repeatedly made extremely
perilous trips under heavy rifle and mortar fire and single-handedly loaded
and evacuated approximately 45 casualties, working tirelessly and with
utter disregard for his own safety during a grueling period of more than
3 hours. Despite intense, persistent enemy fire, he ran out to aid 2 men
whom he believed to be wounded marines but was himself mortally wounded
by a Japanese sniper while carrying out his hazardous mission. Pfc. Agerholm's
brilliant initiative, great personal valor and self-sacrificing efforts
in the face of almost certain death reflect the highest credit upon himself
and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
*BAKER, THOMAS A.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 105th Infantry,
27th Infantry Division. Place and date: Saipan, Mariana Islands, 19 June
to 7 July 1944. Entered service at: Troy, N.Y. Birth: Troy, N.Y. G.O.
No.: 35, 9 May 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity
at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty at Saipan, Mariana
Islands, 19 June to 7 July 1944. When his entire company was held up by
fire from automatic weapons and small-arms fire from strongly fortified
enemy positions that commanded the view of the company, Sgt. (then Pvt.)
Baker voluntarily took a bazooka and dashed alone to within 100 yards
of the enemy. Through heavy rifle and machinegun fire that was directed
at him by the enemy, he knocked out the strong point, enabling his company
to assault the ridge. Some days later while his company advanced across
the open field flanked with obstructions and places of concealment for
the enemy, Sgt. Baker again voluntarily took up a position in the rear
to protect the company against surprise attack and came upon 2 heavily
fortified enemy pockets manned by 2 officers and 10 enlisted men which
had been bypassed. Without regard for such superior numbers, he unhesitatingly
attacked and killed all of them. Five hundred yards farther, he discovered
6 men of the enemy who had concealed themselves behind our lines and destroyed
all of them. On 7 July 1944, the perimeter of which Sgt. Baker was a part
was attacked from 3 sides by from 3,000 to 5,000 Japanese. During the
early stages of this attack, Sgt. Baker was seriously wounded but he insisted
on remaining in the line and fired at the enemy at ranges sometimes as
close as 5 yards until his ammunition ran out. Without ammunition and
with his own weapon battered to uselessness from hand-to-hand combat,
he was carried about 50 yards to the rear by a comrade, who was then himself
wounded. At this point Sgt. Baker refused to be moved any farther stating
that he preferred to be left to die rather than risk the lives of any
more of his friends. A short time later, at his request, he was placed
in a sitting position against a small tree . Another comrade, withdrawing,
offered assistance. Sgt. Baker refused, insisting that he be left alone
and be given a soldier's pistol with its remaining 8 rounds of ammunition.
When last seen alive, Sgt. Baker was propped against a tree, pistol in
hand, calmly facing the foe. Later Sgt. Baker's body was found in the
same position, gun empty, with 8 Japanese lying dead before him. His deeds
were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.
*EPPERSON, HAROLD GLENN
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
Born: 14 July 1923, Akron, Ohio. Accredited to: Ohio. Citation: For conspicuous
gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the
call of duty while serving with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, 2d Marine
Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on the Island of Saipan
in the Marianas, on 25 June 1944. With his machinegun emplacement bearing
the full brunt of a fanatic assault initiated by the Japanese under cover
of predawn darkness, Pfc. Epperson manned his weapon with determined aggressiveness,
fighting furiously in the defense of his battalion's position and maintaining
a steady stream of devastating fire against rapidly infiltrating hostile
troops to aid materially in annihilating several of the enemy and in breaking
the abortive attack. Suddenly a Japanese soldier, assumed to be dead,
sprang up and hurled a powerful hand grenade into the emplacement. Determined
to save his comrades, Pfc. Epperson unhesitatingly chose to sacrifice
himself and, diving upon the deadly missile, absorbed the shattering violence
of the exploding charge in his own body. Stouthearted and indomitable
in the face of certain death, Pfc. Epperson fearlessly yielded his own
life that his able comrades might carry on the relentless battle against
a ruthless enemy. His superb valor and unfaltering devotion to duty throughout
reflect the highest credit upon himself and upon the U.S. Naval Service.
He gallantly gave his life for his country.
*McCARD, ROBERT HOWARD
Rank and organization: Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 25 November
1918, Syracuse, N.Y. Accredited to: New York. Citation: For conspicuous
gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the
call of duty while serving as platoon sergeant of Company A, 4th Tank
Battalion, 4th Marine Division, during the battle for enemy Japanese-held
Saipan, Marianas Islands, on 16 June 1944. Cut off from the other units
of his platoon when his tank was put out of action by a battery of enemy
77mm. guns, G/Sgt. McCard carried on resolutely, bringing all the tank's
weapons to bear on the enemy, until the severity of hostile fire caused
him to order his crew out of the escape hatch while he courageously exposed
himself to enemy guns by hurling hand grenades, in order to cover the
evacuation of his men. Seriously wounded during this action and with his
supply of grenades exhausted, G/Sgt. McCard then dismantled one of the
tank's machineguns and faced the Japanese for the second time to deliver
vigorous fire into their positions, destroying 16 of the enemy but sacrificing
himself to insure the safety of his crew. His valiant fighting spirit
and supreme loyalty in the face of almost certain death reflect the highest
credit upon G/Sgt. McCard and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave
his life for his country.
*O'BRIEN, WILLIAM J.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 1st Battalion, 105th
Infantry, 27th Infantry Division. Place and date: At Saipan, Marianas
Islands, 20 June through 7 July 1944. Entered service at: Troy, N.Y. Birth:
Troy, N.Y. G.O. No.: 35, 9 May 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry
and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty
at Saipan, Marianas Islands, from 20 June through 7 July 1944. When assault
elements of his platoon were held up by intense enemy fire, Lt. Col. O'Brien
ordered 3 tanks to precede the assault companies in an attempt to knock
out the strongpoint. Due to direct enemy fire the tanks' turrets were
closed, causing the tanks to lose direction and to fire into our own troops.
Lt. Col. O'Brien, with complete disregard for his own safety, dashed into
full view of the enemy and ran to the leader's tank, and pounded on the
tank with his pistol butt to attract 2 of the tank's crew and, mounting
the tank fully exposed to enemy fire, Lt. Col. O'Brien personally directed
the assault until the enemy strongpoint had been liquidated. On 28 June
1944, while his platoon was attempting to take a bitterly defended high
ridge in the vicinity of Donnay, Lt. Col. O'Brien arranged to capture
the ridge by a double envelopment movement of 2 large combat battalions.
He personally took control of the maneuver. Lt. Col. O'Brien crossed 1,200
yards of sniper-infested underbrush alone to arrive at a point where 1
of his platoons was being held up by the enemy. Leaving some men to contain
the enemy he personally led 4 men into a narrow ravine behind, and killed
or drove off all the Japanese manning that strongpoint. In this action
he captured S machineguns and one 77-mm. fieldpiece. Lt. Col. O'Brien
then organized the 2 platoons for night defense and against repeated counterattacks
directed them. Meanwhile he managed to hold ground. On 7 July 1944 his
battalion and another battalion were attacked by an overwhelming enemy
force estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000 Japanese. With bloody hand-to-hand
fighting in progress everywhere, their forward positions were finally
overrun by the sheer weight of the enemy numbers. With many casualties
and ammunition running low, Lt. Col. O'Brien refused to leave the front
lines. Striding up and down the lines, he fired at the enemy with a pistol
in each hand and his presence there bolstered the spirits of the men,
encouraged them in their fight and sustained them in their heroic stand.
Even after he was seriously wounded, Lt. Col. O'Brien refused to be evacuated
and after his pistol ammunition was exhausted, he manned a .50 caliber
machinegun, mounted on a jeep, and continued firing. When last seen alive
he was standing upright firing into the Jap hordes that were then enveloping
him. Some time later his body was found surrounded by enemy he had killed
His valor was consistent with the highest traditions of the service.
*OZBOURN, JOSEPH WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 24 October 1919,
Herrin, Ill. Accredited to: Illinois. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry
and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty
as a Browning Automatic Rifleman serving with the 1st Battalion, 23d Marines,
4th Marine Division, during the battle for enemy Japanese-held Tinian
Island, Marianas Islands, 30 July 1944. As a member of a platoon assigned
the mission of clearing the remaining Japanese troops from dugouts and
pillboxes along a tree line, Pvt. Ozbourn, flanked by 2 men on either
side, was moving forward to throw an armed handgrenade into a dugout when
a terrific blast from the entrance severely wounded the 4 men and himself.
Unable to throw the grenade into the dugout and with no place to hurl
it without endangering the other men, Pvt. Ozbourn unhesitatingly grasped
it close to his body and fell upon it, sacrificing his own life to absorb
the full impact of the explosion, but saving his comrades. His great personal
valor and unwavering loyalty reflect the highest credit upon Pvt. Ozbourn
and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
*TIMMERMAN, GRANT FREDERICK
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 14 February
1919, Americus, Kans. Accredited to: Kansas. Other Navy award: Bronze
Star Medal. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the
risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as tank commander serving
with the 2d Battalion, 6th Marines, 2d Marine Division, during action
against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan, Marianas Islands, on 8 July 1944.
Advancing with his tank a few yards ahead of the infantry in support of
a vigorous attack on hostile positions, Sgt. Timmerman maintained steady
fire from his antiaircraft sky mount machinegun until progress was impeded
by a series of enemy trenches and pillboxes. Observing a target of opportunity,
he immediately ordered the tank stopped and, mindful of the danger from
the muzzle blast as he prepared to open fire with the 75mm., fearlessly
stood up in the exposed turret and ordered the infantry to hit the deck.
Quick to act as a grenade, hurled by the Japanese, was about to drop into
the open turret hatch, Sgt. Timmerman unhesitatingly blocked the opening
with his body holding the grenade against his chest and taking the brunt
of the explosion. His exception valor and loyalty in saving his men at
the cost of his own life reflect the highest credit upon Sgt. Timmerman
and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service
of his country.
*WILSON, ROBERT LEE
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 24
May 1921, Centralia, Ill. Accredited to: Illinois. Citation For conspicuous
gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the
call of duty while serving with the 2d Battalion, 6th Marines, 2d Marine
Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces at Tinian Island,
Marianas Group, on 4 August 1944. As 1 of a group of marines advancing
through heavy underbrush to neutralize isolated points of resistance,
Pfc. Wilson daringly preceded his companions toward a pile of rocks where
Japanese troops were supposed to be hiding. Fully aware of the danger
involved, he was moving forward while the remainder of the squad, armed
with automatic rifles, closed together in the rear when an enemy grenade
landed in the midst of the group. Quick to act, Pfc. Wilson cried a warning
to the men and unhesitatingly threw himself on the grenade, heroically
sacrificing his own life that the others might live and fulfill their
mission. His exceptional valor, his courageous loyalty and unwavering
devotion to duty in the face of grave peril reflect the highest credit
upon Pfc. Wilson and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life
for his country.
Source Information:
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/mohiia.htm
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/mohiib.htm
Photos from: Breaching The Marianas: The Battle For Saipan.
Marines In World War II Commemorative Series. By Captain John C. Chapin,
U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (Ret.). Published by History and Museums Division,
Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, D.C. as part of the U.S.
Department of Defense observance of the 50th anniversary of victory in
that war.
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