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Major General James Day was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1998, just months before he passed away of natural causes, for sustained actions as a Squad Leader in Okinawa in 1945. This is an amazing story of grit and is well worth your time to read about him. #Veterans
Why did it take so long for General Day to receive the MOH? That story is amazing in itself, we'll get there. Okinawa was unlike the rest Island-hopping campaign of WW II. The defending Japanese forces were deeply entrenched and didn't show their hand immediately.
In many cases American forces landed on the beaches of Okinawa without the massive resistance to the first wave that was seen in other landings. Americans landed and began to pernitrate into the hinterland without much loss at first. Only then did the Japanese come forth.
Chaos ensued and battle-lines crumbled. The loss of life skyrocketed. Squad Leader Corporal Day of the Second Battalion, Twenty-Second Marines, Sixth Marine Division was neck deep in the chaos and would remain that way for three days.
On the first day, Corporal Day led his men and the remnants of another unit to a critical position on what was called Sugar Loaf Hill. They immediately came under an intense mortar and artillery attack that was aggressively followed with a ground attack.
The attack killed half of his remaining men. Throughout this attack, Corporal day remained close enough to the enemy to throw grenades. (for those of you with no experience with grenades, the best arm can throw a grenade about 50 yards, it's not a baseball).
The enemy was barely repelled. Through the night, the Japanese attacked three more times, all successfully repelled. The cost was horrible though. All of his remaining men had taken hits. Through the heavy attacks, day was able to pull four of his Marines to safety.
Corporal Day then manned a light machine gun assisted by a wounded Marine, and halted another frenzied night attack. In this ferocious action, his machine gun was destroyed, and he suffered multiple white phosphorus and fragmentation wounds.
Assisted by only one very sick man, he reorganized his defensive position in time to halt a fifth enemy attack with devastating small arms fire. On three separate occasions, Japanese soldiers closed to within a few feet of his foxhole, but were killed by Corporal Day.
Between the lulls in action, Day would sneak out of his cover to collect weapons and ammo off of the dead enemy soldiers that still lay where they fell.
During the second day, the enemy conducted numerous unsuccessful swarming attacks against his exposed (a crater) position. When the attacks momentarily subsided, over 70 enemy dead were counted around his position. It wasn't over.
Under the cover of darkness, Corporal Day again snuck out to collect the weapons and ammunition of the fallen enemy. All the while, he tended to the sick Marine (severe fever) next to him.
On the third day, a wounded and exhausted Corporal Day repulsed the enemy's final attack and dispatched around 12 of the enemy at close range. Around his position were the bodies of over 100 Japanese soldiers. Only then were American forces able to reach and fortify his position.
He gave no ground. Marines don't do that.
The US military estimates that 110,071 Japanese soldiers were killed during the battle.
Why did it take so long for his actions to be recognized. They actually were recognized immediately. Tragically, the junior officer tasked with delivering the details of the battle was shot and killed by a sniper as he returned to his ship. His report never made its destination.
Decades later, Day was asked about the award that he never received at a reunion from an old friend that he hadn't seen since WW II. He said he didn't know and that he felt it wasn't something that should be pursued.
Well, his old friend did pursue the story, resulting in his award in 1998, 52 years later. Hooyah Marine. He was a living MOH recipient for 8 months.
As always, credit to Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L._Day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa
