By Capt Joseph R. John, November 10, 2024

On November 10, 2024, U.S. Marines around the globe will celebrate 249 years of success on the battlefield and reaffirm their commitment to their Corps' proud legacy of honor, courage, and commitment. This year we will share a video that discusses many interesting historic incidents in the corps—the language is typically rough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abO9p4fFqbM

On this special day, we pay homage to a Marine’s Marine who, 82 years ago on October 26, 1942, performed in action above and beyond the call of duty. On Nov. 15, 2003, that 85-year-old retired Marine Corps Colonel died of congestive heart failure at his home in La Quinta, California, southeast of Palm Springs. He was buried with full military honors in the Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside, California. He was a Combat Veteran of World War II.  Reason enough to honor him. But this Marine was a little different, this Marine was then Platoon Sgt Mitchell Paige, USMC. 

It's hard today to envision -- or, for the dwindling few, to remember-- what the world looked like on October 26, 1942.  The U.S. Navy was not the most powerful fighting force in the Pacific.  Not by a long shot.  So the Navy basically dumped a few thousand lonely American Marines on the beach at Guadalcanal and high-tailed it out of there. US Admirals Nimitz, Fletcher and Halsey had to ration what few ships they had.

On Guadalcanal the Marines struggled to complete an airfield.  Japanese Navy Admiral Yamamoto knew what that meant.  No effort would be spared to dislodge these upstart Yanks from a position that could endanger his ships.  Before long, relentless Japanese counterattacks had driven supporting U.S. Navy from inshore waters.  The Marines were on their own.  As Platoon Sgt. Mitchell Paige and his 33 riflemen set about carefully emplacing their four water-cooled .30-caliber Browning's, manning their section of the thin khaki line which was expected to defend Henderson Field against the assault of the night of October 25, 1942, it's unlikely anyone thought they were about to provide the definitive answer to that most desperate of questions: How many able-bodied U.S. Marines does it take to hold a hill against 2,000 desperate and motivated Japanese attackers?

Nor did the commanders of the mighty Japanese Army, who had swept all before them for decades, expect their advance to be halted on some jungle ridge manned by one thin line of Yanks in khaki in October of 1942.  But by the time the night was over, the Japanese 29th Infantry Regiment had lost 553 killed or missing and 479 wounded among its 2,554 men, historian Lippman reports.  The Japanese 16th Regiment's losses are uncounted, but the [US] 164th's burial parties handled 975 Japanese bodies. ... The American estimate of 2,200 Japanese dead is probably too low.

You've already figured out where the Japanese focused their attack, haven't you? Among the 90 American dead and seriously wounded that night were all the men in Mitchell Paige's platoon; everyone.  As the night of endless attacks wore on, Paige moved up and down his line, pulling his dead and wounded comrades back into their foxholes and firing a few bursts from each of the four Browning's in turn, convincing the Japanese forces down the hill that the positions were still manned.  The citation for Paige's Congressional Medal of Honor picks up the tale: “When the enemy broke through the line directly in front of his position, P/Sgt. Paige, commanding a machine gun section with fearless determination, continued to direct the fire of his gunners until all his men were either killed or wounded.  Alone, against the deadly hail of Japanese shells, he fought with his gun and when it was destroyed, took over another, moving from gun to gun, never ceasing his withering fire."

“I continued the trigger bursts until the barrel began to steam.  In front of me was a large pile of dead bodies.  I ran around the ridge from gun to gun trying to keep each gun firing, but at each emplacement I only found dead Marine gunners.  I knew then that I must be all alone." 

In the end, Sgt. Paige picked up the last of the 40-pound, belt-fed Browning's -- the same design which John Moses Browning famously fired for a continuous 25 minutes until it ran out of ammunition, glowing cherry red, at its first U.S. Army trial -- and did something for which the weapon was never designed.  Sgt. Paige walked down the hill toward the place where he could hear the last Japanese survivors rallying to move around his flank, the belt-fed gun cradled under his arm, firing as he went.  And the weapon did not fail.  Coming up at dawn, battalion executive officer Major Odell M. Conoley was first to discover the answer to our question: How many able-bodied Marines does it take to hold a hill against two regiments of motivated, combat-hardened infantrymen who have never known defeat?  On a hill where the bodies were piled like cordwood, Mitchell Paige alone sat upright behind his 30-caliber Browning, waiting to see what the dawn would bring.

One hill: one Marine.

But "In the early morning light, the enemy could be seen a few yards off, and vapor from the barrels of their machine guns was clearly visible," reports historian Lippman.  "It was decided to try to rush the position."  For the task, Major Conoley gathered together "three enlisted communication personnel, several riflemen, a few company runners who were at the point, together with a cook and a few mess men who had brought food to the position the evening before." Joined by Paige, this ad hoc force of 17 Marines counterattacked at 5:40 a.m, discovering that this extremely short range allowed the optimum use of grenades. They cleared the ridge.  And that's where the unstoppable wave of Japanese conquest finally crested, broke, and began to recede.  On an unnamed jungle ridge on an insignificant island no one had ever heard of, called Guadalcanal.

When the Hasbro Toy Co. telephoned some years back, asking permission to put the retired Colonel's face on some kid's toy, Mitchell Paige thought they must be joking. But they weren't.  That's his face on the Hasbro Marine they call "G. I. Joe."  One of my found memories was teasing Col Paige in asking him every time we spoke how sales of his doll were going.  He’d always correct me telling me “Russ, that’s not a doll, it’s an ACTION FIGURE.”

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to PLATOON SERGEANT MITCHELL PAIGE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry in action above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the Second Battalion, Seventh Marines, First Marine Division, in combat against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands Area on October 26, 1942. When the enemy broke through the line directly in front of his position, Platoon Sergeant Paige, commanding a machine-gun section with fearless determination, continued to direct the fire of his gunners until all his men were either killed or wounded. Alone, against the deadly hail of Japanese shells, he manned his gun, and when it was destroyed, took over another, moving from gun to gun, never ceasing his withering fire against the advancing hordes until reinforcements finally arrived. Then, forming a new line, he dauntlessly and aggressively led a bayonet charge, driving the enemy back and preventing a break through in our lines. His great personal valor and unyielding devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. 

/S/ FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT  

Semper Fidelis