Walsh, William Gary
Roxbury, Massachussets (United States), April 7th, 1922 -
Iwo Jima, February 27th, 1945
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?; Gunnery Sergeant, Company G, 3rd. Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment
Citation:
"For extraordinary gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life
above and beyond the call of duty as leader of an assault platoon,
attached to Company G, 3d Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division,
in action against enemy Japanese forces at Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands on
27 February 1945. With the advance of his company toward Hill 362
disrupted by vicious machinegun fire from a forward position which
guarded the approaches to this key enemy stronghold, G/Sgt. Walsh
fearlessly charged at the head of his platoon against the Japanese
entrenched on the ridge above him, utterly oblivious to the unrelenting
fury of hostile automatic weapons fire and handgrenades employed with
fanatic desperation to smash his daring assault. Thrown back by the
enemy's savage resistance, he once again led his men in a seemingly
impossible attack up the steep, rocky slope, boldly defiant of the
annihilating streams of bullets which saturated the area. Despite his
own casualty losses and the overwhelming advantage held by the Japanese
in superior numbers and dominant position, he gained the ridge's top
only to be subjected to an intense barrage of handgrenades thrown by
the remaining Japanese staging a suicidal last stand on the reverse
slope. When 1 of the grenades fell in the midst of his surviving men,
huddled together in a small trench, G/Sgt. Walsh, in a final valiant
act of complete self-sacrifice, instantly threw himself upon the deadly
bomb, absorbing with his own body the full and terrific force of the
explosion. Through his extraordinary initiative and inspiring valor in
the face of almost certain death, he saved his comrades from injury and
possible loss of life and enabled his company to seize and hold this
vital enemy position. He gallantly gave his life for his country."
(Awarded posthumously, Image: United States Marine Corps History Division)
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