John Basilone (November 4, 1916 – February 19, 1945) was a United States Marine Corps gunnery sergeant who received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle for Henderson Field in the Guadalcanal campaign, and the Navy Cross posthumously for extraordinary heroism during the Battle of Iwo Jima. He was the only enlisted Marine to receive both of these decorations in World War II.
Basilone enlisted in the Marine Corps on June 3, 1940, after serving three years in the United States Army with duty in the Philippines. He was deployed to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and in August 1942, he took part in the invasion of Guadalcanal. In October, he and the two machine-gun sections under his command held off an attack by a numerically far superior Japanese force. He was one of only three Marines in that group to survive. His actions at Guadalcanal earned him the Medal of Honor. This led to him being called home for a war bond tour, which made him nationally famous.
Basilone would later re-enlist with the Marines, and in 1945 was killed in action on the first day of the invasion of Iwo Jima, after he led the charge to destroy a Japanese blockhouse and while leading a Marine tank under fire safely through a minefield. Including the Medal of Honor, he has received many posthumous honors, including having base streets, military facilities, and two United States Navy destroyers named in his honor. Basilone would gain renewed attention as one of the protagonists of the 2010 television miniseries The Pacific, in which he was portrayed by Jon Seda.
Basilone was born in his parents' home in Buffalo, New York, on November 4, 1916. He was the sixth of ten children in an Italian-American family. His older siblings were born in Raritan, New Jersey, where the family returned after leaving Buffalo in 1918. Basilone attended St. Bernard Parochial School in Raritan, and after completing middle school at age 15, went to work as a golf caddy at the local country club, forgoing high school.
Basilone enlisted in the United States Army in July 1934 at the age of 17. His first posting was with the 16th Infantry Regiment at Fort Jay, New York, before being discharged for a day, reenlisting, and being assigned to the 31st Infantry Regiment. He completed the final two years of his enlistment serving in the Philippines, where he was a champion boxer, earning the ring nickname "Manila John." He was discharged from the Army in 1937 at the rank of private.
After Basilone returned to the United States, he worked as a truck driver in Reisterstown, Maryland. After a few years, he had the desire to return to the Philippines, where he had enjoyed life as a soldier, and believed he could get there faster by serving in the Marine Corps rather than in the Army.
Basilone enlisted in the Marine Corps on July 11, 1940, in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, followed by training at Quantico and New River. His first posting was Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in September 1940. In January 1941, Basilone was assigned to D Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, and was promoted to corporal in May. In January 1942, he was promoted to sergeant, and arrived in the Pacific in May as part of a Marine detachment sent to defend Samoa.
On September 18, 1942, the 7th Marine Regiment landed on the island of Guadalcanal. On October 24, during the Battle for Henderson Field, Basilone's 1st Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Chesty Puller, came under attack by a regiment of about 3,000 soldiers from the Japanese Sendai Division using machine guns, grenades, and mortars against the American heavy machine guns. Basilone commanded two sections of machine guns in D Company, which fought for the next two days until only Basilone and two other Marines were left standing. As the battle went on, ammunition became critically low. Despite their supply lines having been cut off by enemies who had infiltrated into the rear, Basilone fought through hostile ground to resupply his heavy machine gunners with urgently needed supplies. Basilone moved an extra gun into position and maintained continual fire against the incoming Japanese forces. He then repaired and manned another machine gun, holding the defensive line until relief arrived.
When the last of the ammunition ran out shortly before dawn on the second day, Basilone, using his pistol and a machete, held off the Japanese soldiers attacking his position. By the end of the engagement, Japanese forces opposite the Marines' lines had been virtually annihilated. For his actions during the battle, Basilone received the United States military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor. Afterwards, Private First Class Nash W. Phillips of Fayetteville, North Carolina, recalled from the battle for Guadalcanal:
Basilone had a machine gun on the go for three days and nights without sleep, rest, or food. He was in a good emplacement, and causing the Japanese lots of trouble, not only firing his machine gun, but also using his pistol.
Basilone was formally awarded the Medal of Honor during a ceremony on May 21, 1943, and on June 1, he was promoted to platoon sergeant.
In August 1943, Basilone returned to the United States and participated in war bond tours, dubbed “Back the Attack!”. His arrival was highly publicized, and his hometown held a parade in his honor when he returned. The homecoming parade occurred on Sunday, September 19 and drew a huge crowd with thousands of people, including politicians, celebrities, and the national press. The parade made national news in Life magazine and Fox Movietone News. After the parade, Basilone toured the country raising money for the war effort and achieved celebrity status, often appearing with celebrities such as Virginia Grey, John Garfield, and Gene Lockhart.
Although he appreciated the admiration and dutifully performed at the rallies, Basilone felt out of place and requested to return to the operating forces fighting the war. The Marine Corps denied his request and told him he was needed more on the home front. He was offered an officer's commission, which he declined, and was later offered an assignment as an instructor, but refused this as well. When he requested again to return to the war, the request was approved. On December 27, 1943, Basilone left for training at Camp Pendleton, California, and on March 8, 1944, he was promoted to gunnery sergeant. On July 3, he reenlisted in the Marine Corps.
While stationed at Camp Pendleton, Basilone met Lena Mae Riggi, a sergeant in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve. They were married at St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church in Oceanside, California, on July 10, 1944, with a reception at the Carlsbad Hotel. They honeymooned at an onion farm near Portland, Oregon.
After his request to return to the fleet was approved, Basilone was assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division. On February 19, 1945, the first day of the invasion of Iwo Jima, he was serving as a machine gun section leader on Red Beach II. While the Marines landed, the Japanese concentrated their fire at the incoming Marines from heavily fortified blockhouses staged throughout the island. With his unit pinned down, Basilone made his way around the side of the Japanese positions until he was directly on top of the blockhouse. Getting one of his former trainees in Camp Pendleton, Chuck Tatum, to provide suppressing machine gun fire, Basilone then attacked the blockhouse with grenades and demolitions and directed a flamethrower squad onto it, almost single-handedly destroying the entire strong point and its defending garrison. This included taking Tatum's machine gun and firing it from the hip at the escaping Japanese.
Telling Tatum “You’re staying here come hell or high water! I’m going back to get more Marines, and we’re going to fight our way across this island!”, Basilone then fought his way toward Airfield Number 1 to get reinforcements, aiding a Marine tank that was trapped in a Japanese minefield under intense mortar and artillery barrages. He guided the heavy vehicle over the hazardous terrain to safety, despite heavy weapons fire from the Japanese. Basilone was killed as he moved along the edge of the airfield. Original reports indicated he was hit by Japanese mortar shrapnel, although author Hugh Ambrose, following his research for the book and miniseries The Pacific, suggested that a burst of small arms fire hit him in the groin, neck, and left arm. Tatum, who witnessed his death, later recalled: