_1st Division Marines and 7th Infantry Division soldiers cheer
exuberantly at Okinawa atop Hill 89, where the_ Thirty-second Army
_commander took his life._]
During the taping of the 50th anniversary commemorative video of the
battle, General “Brute” Krulak provided a fitting epitaph to the
Marines who fell on Okinawa. Speaking extemporaneously on camera, he
said:
The cheerfulness with which they went to their death has stayed
with me forever. What is it that makes them all the same? I watched
them in Korea, I watched them in Vietnam, and it’s the same.
American youth is one hell of a lot better than he is usually
credited.
[Sidebar (page 52): For Extraordinary Heroism
[Illustration]
The Secretary of the Navy awarded Presidential Unit Citations to the
1st and 6th Marine Divisions, the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, and Marine
Observation Squadron Three (VMO-3) for “extraordinary heroism in
action against enemy Japanese forces during the invasion of Okinawa.”
Marine Observation Squadron Six also received the award as a specified
attached unit to the 6th Marine Division.
On an individual basis, 23 servicemen received the Medal of Honor for
actions performed during the battle. Thirteen of these went to the
Marines and their organic Navy corpsmen, nine to Army troops, and one
to a Navy officer.
Within IIIAC, 10 Marines and 3 corpsmen received the award. Eleven
of the 13 were posthumous awards. Most, if not all, deceased Medal
of Honor recipients have had either U.S. Navy ships or Marine Corps
installations named in their honor. The Okinawa Medal of Honor awardees
were:
Corporal Richard E. Bush, USMC, 1/4; HA 1/c Robert E. Bush, USN,
2/5; *Maj Henry A. Courtney, Jr., USMC, 2/22; *Corporal John P.
Fardy, USMC, 1/1; *PFC William A. Foster, USMC, 3/1; *PFC Harold
Gonsalves, USMC, 4/15; *PhM 2/c William D. Halyburton, USN, 2/5;
*Pvt Dale M. Hansen, USMC, 2/1; *Corporal Louis J. Hauge, Jr.,
USMC, 1/1; *Sgt Elbert L. Kinser, USMC, 3/1; *HA 1/c Fred F.
Lester, USN, 1/22; *Pvt Robert M. McTureous, Jr., USMC, 3/29; and
*PFC Albert E. Schwab, USMC, 1/5.
* Posthumous award
]