Captain J.W. Finley supports himself between two M38 Jeep vehicles after suffering severe neck and facial shrapnel wounds from an exploding Chinese grenade.
Captain Finley of Hazelhurst, Ga., was assigned to Company F, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He resolutely refused to leave his duty until he finished directing first aid treatment and evacuation of wounded men of his company. A hero to be sure - Captain Finley retired a Colonel in the U.S. Army and served three tours in Korea, a tour in Vietnam, as well as duty in Japan, Turkey and Germany.
Image taken on February 22, 1951.
Image courtesy of the U.S. Army Korea Media Center at: imcom.korea.army.mil
This image is part of the Creative Commons and is cleared for public release. This image is generally considered in the public domain. Not for commercial use.
SC359740 - KOREAN CONFLICT
Showing posts with label Marines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marines. Show all posts
Monday, November 28, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Jeep assists Medal of Honor Winner
A Jeep 4x4 was instrumental in the heroic efforts of Private First Class Harold C. Agerholm, U.S. Marine Corps was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic efforts in single-handedly evacuating 45 casualties in an abandoned Jeep ambulance.
Agerholm tirelessly re-entered the fray in his Willys MB under heavy fire for a three hour marathon mission.
This halftone reproduction of a photograph was copied from the official publication "Medal of Honor, 1861-1949, The Navy", page 149.
Official copy reads:
"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the Fourth Battalion, Tenth Marines, SECOND 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, Private First Class Agerholm immediately volunteered to assist in the efforts to check the hostile attack and evacuate our wounded.
Locating and appropriating an abandoned ambulance Jeep 4x4, he repeatedly made extremely perilous trips under heavy rifle and mortar fire and single-handledly loaded and evacuted approximately 45 casualities, working tirelessly and with utter disregard for his own safety during a gruelling period of more than 3 hours.
Despite intense, persistent enemy fire, he ran out to aid two men whom he believed to be wounded Marines but was himself mortally wounded by a Japanese sniper while carrying out his hazardous mission.
Private First Class 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 United States Naval Service.
He gallantly gave his life for his country."
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Agerholm tirelessly re-entered the fray in his Willys MB under heavy fire for a three hour marathon mission.
This halftone reproduction of a photograph was copied from the official publication "Medal of Honor, 1861-1949, The Navy", page 149.
Official copy reads:
"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the Fourth Battalion, Tenth Marines, SECOND 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, Private First Class Agerholm immediately volunteered to assist in the efforts to check the hostile attack and evacuate our wounded.
Locating and appropriating an abandoned ambulance Jeep 4x4, he repeatedly made extremely perilous trips under heavy rifle and mortar fire and single-handledly loaded and evacuted approximately 45 casualities, working tirelessly and with utter disregard for his own safety during a gruelling period of more than 3 hours.
Despite intense, persistent enemy fire, he ran out to aid two men whom he believed to be wounded Marines but was himself mortally wounded by a Japanese sniper while carrying out his hazardous mission.
Private First Class 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 United States Naval Service.
He gallantly gave his life for his country."
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Jeep Iwo Jima Landing
Jeep 4x4 in Iwo Jima Operation, 1945
"Pinned Down -- Fourth Division Marines are pinned down by enemy fire as they hit the beach at Iwo Jima on D-Day, February 19. Making their fourth amphibious assault in 13 months, the veteran fighters are ready to secure the right flank of the initial beachhead.'"
Quoted from the original picture caption released for publication on 25 February 1945 by Commander in Chief, Pacific.
The landing ship in the background (with its bow and stern numbers censored) is LSM-206.
Note broached LCM in the center, and swamped jeep and LCVP (also with identification markings censored) at right.
The original photograph came from the illustrations package for Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II", volume XIV: "Victory in the Pacific".
The photo was provided to Morison by E.J. Long. It was uploaded to Flickr by Lee Ekstrom.
Photo #: NH 65312.
Official U.S. Marine Corps Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
"Pinned Down -- Fourth Division Marines are pinned down by enemy fire as they hit the beach at Iwo Jima on D-Day, February 19. Making their fourth amphibious assault in 13 months, the veteran fighters are ready to secure the right flank of the initial beachhead.'"
Quoted from the original picture caption released for publication on 25 February 1945 by Commander in Chief, Pacific.
The landing ship in the background (with its bow and stern numbers censored) is LSM-206.
Note broached LCM in the center, and swamped jeep and LCVP (also with identification markings censored) at right.
The original photograph came from the illustrations package for Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II", volume XIV: "Victory in the Pacific".
The photo was provided to Morison by E.J. Long. It was uploaded to Flickr by Lee Ekstrom.
Photo #: NH 65312.
Official U.S. Marine Corps Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
Jeep Iwo Jima Beach
Iwo Jima Operation, 1945
"Jeep in the Heart of Iwo -- One of the first Jeep 4x4s to roll ashore as the Fifth Marine Division landed on Iwo Jima, met the same fate as most of the other vehicles, when it sank into the soft black volcanic ash on the beach.
Until steel mats were laid a large number of Willys MB Jeep vehicles and trucks were stalled in the quagmire as they rolled from landing boats.
Bogged vehicles were favorite targets of Japanese mortarmen who fired down from flanking mountains overlooking the beach."
Quoted from the original photo caption, released by Commander-in-Chief, Pacific, on 25 February 1945.
Photographed by T/Sgt. H. Neil Gillespie.
LCVP being unloaded in the center background is from USS Newberry (APA-158). Note lines being used to keep it from broaching, and the small (bulldozer-type) mobile crane assisting the work.
The original print came from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's World War II history project working files. It was provided to Morison by E.J. Long.
Photo #: NH 104215. Uploaded on Flickr by Lee Ekstrom.
Official U.S. Marine Corps Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
"Jeep in the Heart of Iwo -- One of the first Jeep 4x4s to roll ashore as the Fifth Marine Division landed on Iwo Jima, met the same fate as most of the other vehicles, when it sank into the soft black volcanic ash on the beach.
Until steel mats were laid a large number of Willys MB Jeep vehicles and trucks were stalled in the quagmire as they rolled from landing boats.
Bogged vehicles were favorite targets of Japanese mortarmen who fired down from flanking mountains overlooking the beach."
Quoted from the original photo caption, released by Commander-in-Chief, Pacific, on 25 February 1945.
Photographed by T/Sgt. H. Neil Gillespie.
LCVP being unloaded in the center background is from USS Newberry (APA-158). Note lines being used to keep it from broaching, and the small (bulldozer-type) mobile crane assisting the work.
The original print came from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's World War II history project working files. It was provided to Morison by E.J. Long.
Photo #: NH 104215. Uploaded on Flickr by Lee Ekstrom.
Official U.S. Marine Corps Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
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