Medal of Honor: Harold H. Moon Jr. World War II, October 21, 1944

Name: Harold H. Moon Jr.
Rank: Private
War: World War II
Date of Action: October 21, 1944
Unit: Company G, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division
Born: August 12, 1919 – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Entered Service At: Gardena, California

Summary of Action
In the predawn darkness on Leyte, Japanese forces launched a furious counterattack aimed at throwing the Americans back into the sea. Private Harold Moon, armed only with his submachine gun and fighting from a forward foxhole, bore the brunt of the assault as enemy soldiers swarmed through the jungle under a storm of mortars and machine-gun fire.

Wounded early in the attack and nearly surrounded, Moon refused to yield. He fired with deadly precision, shouting encouragement to the scattered survivors of his platoon and directing mortar fire on enemy guns that were tearing his position apart. When a Japanese officer crept close, tossing grenades toward his foxhole, Moon rose into the fire and shot him dead. He then calmly called in range corrections that helped American mortars destroy an enemy machine gun just twenty yards from his position.

For four relentless hours, Moon fought alone against hundreds of attackers, his foxhole becoming the epicenter of the battle. When the enemy finally charged in a desperate, bayonet-led rush, Moon emptied his weapon into their ranks, killing eighteen and halting the assault. Moments later, as he stood to throw one final grenade, he was struck and killed instantly—still in the same position he had defended through the night. Nearly 200 enemy bodies lay around his foxhole by dawn.

Private Moon’s unbreakable stand saved the beachhead on Leyte and set the standard for courage in the face of impossible odds.

Medal of Honor Citation
MOON, HAROLD H., JR.
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company G, 34th Infantry, 24th Infantry Division. Place and date: Pawig, Leyte, Philippine Islands, 21 October 1944. Entered service at: Gardena, Calif. Birth: Albuquerque, N. Mex. G.O. No.: 104, 15 November 1945.
Citation: He fought with conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity when powerful Japanese counterblows were being struck in a desperate effort to annihilate a newly won beachhead. In a forward position, armed with a submachinegun, he met the brunt of a strong, well-supported night attack which quickly enveloped his platoon’s flanks. Many men in nearby positions were killed or injured, and Pvt. Moon was wounded as his foxhole became the immediate object of a concentration of mortar and machinegun fire. Nevertheless, he maintained his stand, poured deadly fire into the enemy, daringly exposed himself to hostile fire time after time to exhort and inspire what American troops were left in the immediate area. A Japanese officer, covered by machinegun fire and hidden by an embankment, attempted to knock out his position with grenades, but Pvt. Moon, after protracted and skillful maneuvering, killed him. When the enemy advanced a light machinegun to within 20 yards of the shattered perimeter and fired with telling effects on the remnants of the platoon, he stood up to locate the gun and remained exposed while calling back range corrections to friendly mortars which knocked out the weapon. A little later he killed 2 Japanese as they charged an aid man. By dawn his position, the focal point of the attack for more than 4 hours, was virtually surrounded. In a fanatical effort to reduce it and kill its defender, an entire platoon charged with fixed bayonets. Firing from a sitting position, Pvt. Moon calmly emptied his magazine into the advancing horde, killing 18 and repulsing the attack. In a final display of bravery, he stood up to throw a grenade at a machinegun which had opened fire on the right flank. He was hit and instantly killed, falling in the position from which he had not been driven by the fiercest enemy action. Nearly 200 dead Japanese were found within 100 yards of his foxhole. The continued tenacity, combat sagacity, and magnificent heroism with which Pvt. Moon fought on against overwhelming odds contributed in a large measure to breaking up a powerful enemy threat and did much to insure our initial successes during a most important operation.