[Sidebar ([page 52]):]
For Extraordinary Heroism
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
Sources
The Washington National Records Center in Suitland, Maryland, holds primary documents of the Okinawa campaign. The III Amphibious Corps After Action Report provides the best overview, while reports of infantry battalions contain vivid day-by-day accounts. The Marine Corps Oral History Collection contains 36 interviews with Okinawa veterans, among them Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr.; Pedro A. del Valle; Alan Shapley; Edward W. Snedeker; and Wilburt S. Brown. The Marine Corps Historical Center also holds Oliver P. Smith’s outspoken account of his Okinawa experiences as Marine Deputy Chief of Staff, Tenth Army, as well as the original interrogation report of Colonel Hiromichi Yahara, Operations Officer of the Japanese Thirty-second Army.