William G Walsh
| William G. Walsh | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 7, 1922 Roxbury, Massachusetts |
| Died | February 27, 1945 Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands |
| Status | KIA |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Marine Corps Reserve |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank | Gunnery Sergeant |
| Service number | |
| Unit | Company G, 3rd Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division |
| Commands held | |
| Battles / wars | Battle of Iwo Jima |
| Awards | Medal of Honor, Purple Heart |
| Relations | |
| Later work | |
William Gary Walsh (April 7, 1922 – February 27, 1945) was a United States Marine who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest decoration for valor, for his actions during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, Walsh enlisted in the Marine Corps in April 1942 and saw extensive Pacific combat — including Guadalcanal and Bougainville — with the Marine Raiders before rejoining the 5th Marine Division. He served with Company G, 3rd Battalion, 27th Marines.
Medal of Honor
[edit]On February 27, 1945, leading an assault platoon against the approaches to Hill 362, Walsh twice charged Japanese positions up a steep, fire-swept ridge. When an enemy grenade landed among his men in a trench, he threw himself upon it, absorbing the blast and sacrificing his life to save his comrades. He was reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery in 1948.
Citation
[edit]For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Leader of an Assault Platoon, serving with Company G, Third Battalion, Twenty-seventh Marines, Fifth 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 machine-gun fire from a forward position which guarded the approaches to this key enemy stronghold, Gunnery Sergeant 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 and hand grenades 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, and despite his own casualty losses and the overwhelming advantage held by the Japanese in superior numbers and dominate position, gained the ridge's top only to be subjected to an intense barrage of hand grenades thrown by the remaining Japanese staging a suicidal last stand on the reverse slope. When one of the grenades fell in the midst of his surviving men, huddled together in a small trench, Gunnery Sergeant 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.