John Basilone, Medal of Honor and Navy Cross Recipient

From the jungle hell of Guadalcanal, to the blood soaked beach at Iwo Jima, "Manila" John Basilone was the hero that America needed. In the end, his sense of duty to his men would cost him his life.

"You're in the Army now"

Born on November 4, 1916 in Buffalo, New York, and raised the small town of Raritan, New Jersey, Marine Corps legend John Basilone craved adventure from the start. Basilone outgrew his small town surroundings, and as many restless young men in generations past he joined the US Army. While there is no doubt as to Basilone's having been in the US Army, and his being stationed in the Philippines, there are conflicts between various sources as to the exact dates in which he was in the Army.

Charles Tatum's "Searching for 'Manila John' Basilone" cites service dates as February 5^th, 1936 to May 10^th, 1937, reenlisted May 11^th, 1937, discharged September 7, 1938. The US Navy Historical Center claims simply 1936 through 1939, and both Wikipedia and the Basilone Memorial Parade website claim 1934 through 1937. Regardless of all the conflicting Army service dates, all sources agree on several points of Basilone's Early Military Career. He loved the Philippines, and he was a gifted boxer. It was the boxing nickname of "Manila John" that would stick with him for the rest of his short life.

It was not long after his discharge from the Army that Balisone found himself once again restless. While most Americans in 1940 sat listening to the war rage in Europe on their radios, John Basilone came to a fateful decision. In July of 1940 he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. Whether joining the Marine Corps was a bid to return to the Philippines quickly, or that he felt that the Marines would be more challenging is likely lost to history.

With the Marines on Guadalcanal

Private Basilone was assigned to the 1^st Battalion, 7^th Marine Regiment under command of another future Marine Legend Major Lewis "Chesty" Puller. Major Puller must have seen something in Basilone and promoted him to the rank of Sergeant in January of 1942.

On August 7^th, 1942, the Marines landed on Guadalcanal, and began a bloody 6 month long fight whose outcome was often in doubt. In the last week of September Pullers Marines staged a landing at Point Cruz. They were quickly surrounded by a superior Japanese force and were only saved from annihilation by a timely evacuation. This defeat weighed heavily on Puller, and one must think on Sergeant Basilone also.

October 24-25, 1942

Henderson Field was the lifeline for the Marines on Guadalcanal, losing it would spell defeat for the Marines. As the sun set on October 24^th, a single Marine Battalion Stood between Henderson Field, and a Division of Japanese soldiers preparing to attack. Basilone and his 16 men set their 4 .30 caliber machine guns up in a defensive position and wait for the onslaught. They were part of a line that had to be held at all costs. When the attack came, it was massive.

A Japanese Regiment of 3,000 some troops swarmed towards Basilones section of the line. Following "Manila" Johns orders his 4 machinegun crews waited until the first wave of Japanese were 30 yards away before they opened fire and cut them down. Unfazed, the Japanese continued attacking sending wave after wave of assault troops.

The attack began taking its toll when either a grenade or mortar round knocked out 2 of Basilones machineguns, killing or wounding their crews. Basilone knew if he, or any of his men were going to survive this night he needed as many guns in action as possible. Basilone found another machinegun and after getting it into action, moved to the knocked out machineguns. In the darkness illuminated only by the pitched battle raging around him, he repaired one of the machine guns and helped cut down another wave of attackers. As the battle raged, Basilone and his men poured a murderous fire into the Japanese.

At about 3 AM, Basilone's now very small unit had expended almost all the machinegun ammunition. By this point in the battle, Japanese were on all sides, and Basilone was forced to dash through enemy fire to an ammunition stash 100 yards behind his position. He made it there and then back to his position only to find another machinegun had been knocked out. Using parts from one of the machineguns that had been damaged beyond repair, Basilone fixed the knocked out gun and got it back into action. Basilone would have to make an additional trip, this time 600 yards, that night to get more ammunition.

The morning sunrise would reveal the utter horror of a pitch battle fought in close quarters with hundreds of dead Japanese lying before the Marines positions. The 3,000 man regiment that had attacked Basilone's section of the American line that night had been annihilated, and the Marines still held Henderson Field.

For his actions on this night, John Basilone would be awarded the Medal of Honor.

"I'm Staying with my boy's. They need me."

John would soon find himself back in the United State to a hero's welcome. The first WWII Marine to be alive to accept his Medal of Honor made Basilone a commodity. America needed a hero, and "Manila John" fit the bill. He was paraded around the country on a War Bond tour, and was the subject of the national and local press wherever he went. But it wasn't for him.

Basilone officially requested to return to his men, and he was denied. He was offered a commission, and he denied. He was offered a job as a Gunnery Instructor, but he refused this also. After a few months passed, he againrequested transfer back to combat, and this time it was granted. In December of 1943, John Basilone was posted to Camp Pendleton, and to a unit destined to write its name into Marine Corps history, in blood.

The 5^th

For months the 5^th Marine Division was training for something big. A new division made up of mostly new recruits formed around a cadre of battle hardened vets, the men of the 5^th trained hard. Their teachers were men like Basilone, men who had seen the horrors of war, and were doing everything in their power to prepare their boys and give them the tools they would need to survive.

It was during this time that John met Marine Sergeant Lena Mae Riggi. After a short romance they married on July 10^th, 1944. A month later Basilone and the rest of the 5^th Marines shipped out. Destination: Iwo Jima.

Sulfur Island

Iwo Jima is 7.5 square miles of barren, volcanic ash and rock a mere 660 mile from Tokyo. The island's location made it strategically important providing a staging and jumping off point for the invasion of Okinawa and the Japanese home Islands, and as a emergency landing strip for B-29's damaged while bombing Japan.

With over 800 blockhouses and pillboxes, miles of underground tunnels, and Mount Suribachi with its multitude of caves and reinforced artillery emplacements, taking Iwo would cost the Marines dearly. Due to the geography of the island, and the Japanese Commander, General Kuribayashi's strategy of a defense in depth, every Marine, no matter where on the island, would be in range of Japanese guns.

February 19, 1945: D-Day in Hell

At 9:00 AM, the "throwing of human flesh against reinforced concrete", as historians have called the assault of Iwo Jima, began. Amphibious tractors pulled themselves onto the black sand, disgorged their human cargo, then returned to the water and churned back to the ships for more men and equipment. From the moment the first Marine stepped onto the island, confusion reigned. The volcanic sand of Iwo Jima's beach made walking difficult, and scaling the steep slope of the 30 foot terrace that faced the ocean nearly impossible. The advance came to a halt as successive waves came ashore and turned the beach into a carpet of Marines and equipment.

At 9:15 AM, with the beach packed to capacity with Marines and their Equipment, the Japanese opened fire. In the environment of the beach at that moment, every shell killed and maimed. Marines desperately trying to "dig in" to protect themselves, found that the holes would fill up with the loose sand as fast as they could shovel. Marines hugged the ground in a vain effort to escape the storm of steel that had descended upon them.

Then "Manila John" was there. Walking up and down the beach, Basilone rallied Marines by one's and twos, restored their nerve, and convincing them that the only way to stay alive was to get off the beach. He led a group of Marines up the face of the terrace and off the beach, then led a combined machinegun, demolition, and flamethrower assault against a pill box that was firing nearly point blank into the Marines on the beach. After the pillbox was neutralized, Basilone led his group to the prime objective, Iwo's airfield.

Once at the airfield, Basilone had his men set up a defensive position up in a shell hole. After telling them to hold the ground, he returned to the beach and assembled another group. As the second group approached the airfield, a mortar shell mortally wounded Basilone. About 30 minutes later "Manila John" Basilone, 29 years old, and Medal of Honor winner was dead.

John Basilone would receive the Navy Cross for his actions this day. He was the only Enlisted Marine in WW2 to win the Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, and Purple Heart.

John Basilone rests in Section 12, Grave 384, grid Y/Z 23.5 at Arlington National Cemetery.

"The Pacific"

HBO's 10 part miniseries "The Pacific", scheduled for release in 2010, will feature John Basilone's story as one of the storylines.

Further Reading

"In search of 'Manila John' Basilone" by Charles W Tatum

John Basilone, Wikipedia Entry

"Marines on Guadalcanal"