Medal of Honor: Orlando Henderson Petty - World War I - June 11, 1918
Near Belleau Wood, a Navy doctor refused to abandon his wounded as shells and gas struck the dressing station. Even after a blast tore away his mask and wrecked the aid post, he kept treating the wounded and carried an injured officer to safety.
June 11, 2026
Name: Orlando Henderson Petty
Rank: Lieutenant (Medical Corps), U.S. Naval Reserve Force
Branch: U.S. Navy
War: World War I
Unit: Attached to the 5th Regiment, U.S. Marines
Date of Action: June 11, 1918
Location: Lucy, France, during the Battle of Belleau Wood
Summary of Action
On 11 June 1918, during the fierce fighting around Belleau Wood, Lieutenant Orlando Henderson Petty displayed extraordinary heroism while serving as a medical officer attached to the 5th Regiment, U.S. Marines.
Stationed in the village of Lucy, where his dressing station received a constant stream of casualties from the front lines, Petty worked tirelessly despite intense enemy bombardment by high-explosive and poison gas shells.
As the shelling grew more severe, a gas shell exploded nearby with tremendous force, knocking him to the ground and tearing his protective gas mask.
Faced with the choice of seeking his own safety or remaining with the wounded, Petty made an immediate decision.
Discarding the damaged mask, he deliberately continued treating and evacuating casualties while exposed to the deadly gas-filled environment and continuing artillery fire.
The situation worsened when enemy shells struck and demolished the dressing station itself.
Even then, Petty refused to abandon his mission.
Among those requiring immediate evacuation was Captain Williams, who had been seriously wounded during the bombardment. Personally assisting with the rescue, Petty helped carry the injured officer through the shellfire to a place of safety despite the continuing danger surrounding them.
His unwavering devotion to his patients, complete disregard for his own safety, and steadfast courage under conditions of extreme peril embodied the highest traditions of the Medical Corps and the United States Naval Service.
Medal of Honor Citation
PETTY, ORLANDO HENDERSON
Rank and organization: Lieutenant (Medical Corps), U.S. Naval Reserve Force.
Born: 20 February 1874, Harrison, Ohio.
Appointed from: Pennsylvania.
Citation:
For extraordinary heroism while serving with the 5th Regiment, U.S. Marines, in France during the attack in the Bois de Belleau, 11 June 1918. While under heavy fire of high explosive and gas shells in the town of Lucy, where his dressing station was located, Lt. Petty attended to and evacuated the wounded under most trying conditions. Having been knocked to the ground by an exploding gas shell which tore his mask, Lt. Petty discarded the mask and courageously continued his work. His dressing station being hit and demolished, he personally helped carry Capt. Williams, wounded, through the shellfire to a place of safety.
