Medal of Honor: Harold Glenn Epperson – World War II, June 25, 1944

Harold Glenn Epperson

Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve
Conflict: World War II
Unit: 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division
Date of Action: June 25, 1944
Location: Saipan, Marianas Islands

Summary of Action:
In the grim, early hours before dawn on June 25, 1944, as U.S. Marines fought tooth and nail to hold a hard-won position on the blood-soaked island of Saipan, Private First Class Harold G. Epperson stood firm behind his machine gun. The Japanese launched a desperate banzai assault under the cover of darkness—fanatical troops charging into Marine lines in a final bid to break through.

Epperson's gun emplacement became a focal point of the attack. With cool determination and ferocious resolve, he fired round after round into the onrushing enemy, cutting down wave after wave of infiltrators and buying precious seconds for his battalion to regroup.

Then came the moment of ultimate sacrifice. A Japanese soldier, presumed dead, sprang up and hurled a grenade into the machine gun pit. Epperson saw it land—saw what was about to happen—and without a word or a pause, threw himself onto the grenade. The blast tore through him, killing him instantly—but his fellow Marines were untouched.

Harold Epperson's act was not instinctive—it was a deliberate choice. He died so others might live, and in that selfless moment, he became immortal in the legacy of the Corps.

Medal of Honor Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, 2d Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on the Island of Saipan in the Marianas, on 25 June 1944.

With his machinegun emplacement bearing the full brunt of a fanatic assault initiated by the Japanese under cover of predawn darkness, Pfc. Epperson manned his weapon with determined aggressiveness, fighting furiously in the defense of his battalion’s position and maintaining a steady stream of devastating fire against rapidly infiltrating hostile troops to aid materially in annihilating several of the enemy and in breaking the abortive attack.

Suddenly a Japanese soldier, assumed to be dead, sprang up and hurled a powerful hand grenade into the emplacement. Determined to save his comrades, Pfc. Epperson unhesitatingly chose to sacrifice himself and, diving upon the deadly missile, absorbed the shattering violence of the exploding charge in his own body.

Stouthearted and indomitable in the face of certain death, Pfc. Epperson fearlessly yielded his own life that his able comrades might carry on the relentless battle against a ruthless enemy. His superb valor and unfaltering devotion to duty throughout reflect the highest credit upon himself and upon the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.