Military Culture
The Coast Guard’s only Medal of Honor recipient died rescuing Marines
By Claire Barrett
Apr 25, 03:26 PM
Over a month into the hellish fight for control of Guadalcanal, then-Marine Lt. Col. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller ordered elements from the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines to conduct an exploratory mission to the peninsula Point Cruz along the Matanikau River.
That region of the island was used as a staging area for Japanese forces to regroup and launch further attacks, particularly against the tenuously held Allied airfield dubbed Henderson Field.
Through miscommunication and miscues, that reconnaissance mission quickly turned deadly.
“On September 27, a message from the group was either misinterpreted or ambiguous, leading division headquarters to believe they had crossed the river and were fighting there,” according to the National WWII Museum. “This resulted in the order for three companies of 1st Battalion, 7th Marines [to go ashore] via landing craft on a beach west of Point Cruz to enter the attack from the rear.”
https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2024/04/25/the-coast-guards-only-medal-of-honor-recipient-died-rescuing-marines/
