Sergeant John Basilone and his unit were facing relentless fire from the Japanese
forces during the Battle for Henderson Field in October of 1942 when suddenly
he realized that the weapons they were carrying would not last much longer.
As an experienced gunner, Basilone then took it upon himself to repair the damaged guns
and resupply them so that his unit could continue holding off the incessant enemy,
running back and forth under darkness and relentless fire to hand them back to his men.
His brave actions during the Guadalcanal campaign would earn him a Medal of Honor
and elevate him as a hero by a nation that instantly turned him into a celebrity.
However, Basilone was not done yet, and would soon return to defend his country
in a fateful and brutal battle for which he would later become the only Marine to
ever receive both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross during World War 2…
Manila John
Born in 1916 to Italian immigrants, John Basilone grew up in New Jersey with nine other siblings.
Hoping to find adventure, he enlisted in the United States Army right before turning 18.
Basilone was sent to the Philippines right away, where he served as an infantryman for three years.
While stationed at the American colony, Basilone
became enamored with the Philippines and his way of life in the base.
The young recruit would then become a champion boxer, earning the nickname ‘Manila John.’
After two successful Army tours in the Philippines,
John returned to America and settled as a truck driver.
Hoping to return to his beloved Manila and add some action to his life,
Basilone began planning his next steps. He believed that joining the Marine Corps would get
him to Asia faster than the Army, so the young enthusiast joined the branch on June 3, 1940.
While Basilone's Marine Corps service did take him to the Far East,
Manila John never traveled to his beloved Philippines again.
After the brutal attack at Pearl Harbor a year and a half later, the United States joined the fight
against Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and fascist Italy. And while the country's late entrance to
the war came with its share of criticism, there was no doubt that America came in full force.
Soon, thousands of Americans were scattered all over the globe fighting against the Axis,
including Basilone. After training at Guantanamo Bay, his 1st Battalion,
7th Marines, 1st Marine Division was sent to the depths of the brutal Pacific Theater.
Guadalcanal
In September of 1942, Basilone found himself defending the island of Guadalcanal.
Located well within Japan's emerging empire, Guadalcanal was a clash of national wills.
Only one country would win the strategically valuable island
and the entire Solomon Islands chain to which it belonged.
One of the most feared posts of World War 2, the fight for the island of Guadalcanal
was a constant, brutal struggle. However, despite being both unprepared and outnumbered,
the Americans captured an island airstrip and renamed it Henderson Field.
Afterward, the Allied forces in the area began receiving supplies and
reinforcement from aircraft that were able to land on the base.
Determined not to let the Japanese take over the airfield, the Americans sent many men to
protect and maintain their presence. In response, the Japanese arranged for Tokyo Express runs,
naval forces delivering personnel, supplies, and equipment via nighttime vessels that regularly
bombarded the airfield and American positions to avoid being seen or hit during the day.
In the middle of one of the fiercest battles of World War 2,
Basilone quickly distinguished himself as a fearless soldier.
A Hero
In October of 1942, Sergeant Basilone commanded two sections of Marines holding the perimeter at
Lunga ridge, only 1,000 yards south of Henderson Field, brandishing heavy .30-caliber machine guns.
Suffering from malaria and other terrible conditions, Basilone's men persisted in
the muddy and dense tropical weather, holding the hill as best as they could,
with constant waves of Japanese troops attempting to conquer the ridge.
On the 25th, a regiment of 3,000 soldiers from the Japanese Sendai Division
focused their attack on his units, charging the hill using machine guns, grenades, and mortars.
The Japanese's practices were brutal but effective.
After making a human bridge out of the bodies of their fallen comrades,
the enemy was beginning to cross over the barbed wire fences near the American perimeter.
During the nighttime attack, grenades, small arms,
and machine guns were thrown around and fired incessantly.
An experienced machine gunner, Sergeant Basilone knew that the American weaponry would be tested
to its limits, and soon, the inevitable happened: the machine guns began to jam.
Instead of allowing the creation of a hole in the line through which the Japanese could infiltrate,
Basilone took it upon himself to make sure the American guns never stopped firing. For the next
three days, he repeatedly and hurriedly repaired guns and charged barrels in almost total darkness.
Basilone also ran back and forth between gun pits, carrying 90 pounds of weaponry
and ammunition resupply through a 200-yard trek in constant enemy fire.
The innate leader also ensured that his terrified junior Marines were steadied
and assisted as the unit continued firing into the charging Japanese.
At one point, the Sergeant lost one of his essential thermal protection gloves
when swapping empty barrels for the machine guns.
Undeterred and in the middle of a battle, Basilone operated with his bare hands,
enduring incredible pain as he single-handedly eliminated an entire wave of Japanese soldiers.
Despite his heroic actions, most of his men succumbed to the Japanese, and only Basilone
and two other Marines were left standing. Still, the unit had managed to hold the perimeter.
By the time the reinforcements arrived, Henderson Field was still in American hands,
and its possession would never be seriously threatened for the remainder of the war.
A Fish Out of Water
When they were later interviewed, the two squad members who survived the relentless
attack expressed their amazement at their leader’s will to fight
and his ability to inspire the team during the most fearful nights of their lives.
Due to his brave actions during the Battle for Henderson Field, Basilone John Basilone
was promoted to Gunnery Sergeant at only 26 years old. He became the first enlisted Marine
to earn the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest decoration, during World War 2.
Instead of meeting President Franklin D. Roosevelt to be bestowed with the medal,
Sergeant Basilone asked to hold the ceremony in the field with his Marine Corps unit.
Basilone claimed 38 casualties during the encounter, and upon receiving the decoration,
he humbly said that only part of the medal belonged to him,
as his fallen men deserved it just as much as he did.
Upon his return to America, John Basilone was welcomed with a parade
from the entire population in his hometown of Raritan, New Jersey.
By September of 1943, with a national war bond tour, news coverage, and several written profiles
giving him endless publicity, the brave Sergeant had become a national celebrity.
However, Basilone wanted to be in the front line with his fellow Marines as soon as possible.
He repeatedly said that he was only a plain soldier.
Still, his return to combat was constantly delayed until the Corps relented,
and the Sergeant was then sent to train for combat in Camp Pendleton in the Pacific.
As Manila John trained for war in the East Coast camp,
he met fellow Marine Sergeant Lena Mae Riggi. After a whirlwind romance of less than a month,
and with John's inevitable return to the Pacific, the couple got married on July 10,1944.
The newlyweds then parted ways and never reunited again.
One Last Post
The five-week battle for the capture of the Island of Iwo Jima
saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Pacific Theatre.
Out of 20,000 Japanese troops defending the area, only about 200 are known to have survived,
and the American losses were also brutal. The Marine Corps alone
suffered close to 26,000 casualties, one of them being the legendary Sergeant.
On February 19, 1945, Basilone and his artillery unit serving with the 1st Battalion, 27th Marines,
5th Marine Division arrived on the island. Basilone instantly proved his courage
by giving directions and helping some of his men that were pinned by enemy fire to move forward.
Afterward, Basilone single-handedly destroyed a reinforced Japanese position,
attacking a blockhouse with grenades and demolitions,
allowing his Marine unit to secure an airfield that same day.
At the edge of the airfield, Basilone assisted a tank stuck in an enemy minefield,
gently but firmly guiding the vehicle over the terrain to safety
while moving under intense Japanese mortar and artillery barrages.
Just then, a mortar round exploded and took the life of the 27-year-old
along with four fellow Marines.
For his brave actions during the critical Battle of Iwo Jima,
the Sergeant received many awards and decorations, including the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross.
Basilone was the only enlisted Marine to receive
both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross during World War 2.
Basilone's wife, Lena, continued to serve with the Marine Corps and was present during the
ceremony in which a Gearing-class destroyer was named after her late husband in 1949.
Then, in 2018, the Navy announced plans to name an Arleigh Burke-class after the World War II legend,
further cementing his legacy. As Navy Secretary Ray Mabus put it: [QUOTE] "All who serve aboard
her will carry on the legacy of service and commitment exemplified by this Marine Corps hero."
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