Word Celebrity Blog

Harry Linn Martin


Harry Linn Martin was born on January 4, 1911, in Bucyrus, Ohio. He graduated from Bucyrus High School and from Michigan State College in East Lansing, Michigan, where he majored in Business Administration.


At Michigan State, he was on the football and wrestling teams and did some boxing and skiing. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Fraternity and served two years in the Cavalry unit of the ROTC. Following graduation in 1936, he worked in Honolulu, Hawaii, as an office manager for the Hawaiian Construction Tunnel Company.

Harry Martin was a member of the Ohio National Guard.

On August 25, 1943, Harry Martin was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve. Following schooling at Quantico, Virginia, 2nd Lt Martin completed the Engineers School at New River, North Carolina, and was designated an Engineer Officer on March 13, 1944. Assigned to 2nd Battalion, 16th Marines, engineer regiment of the 5th Marine Division, he joined Company C when the designation of the battalion was changed to 5th Pioneer Battalion.


























Second Lieutenant Martin went overseas with his unit in the summer of 1944 and went into training at

Hawaii. On February 19, 1945 he landed on Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands and before the day ended he had already sustained a slight wound. He was promoted to first lieutenant on March 1, 1945.

A few minutes before dawn on the morning of March 26, the day the Iwo campaign officially closed, the

Japanese launched a concentrated attack and penetrated the Marine lines in the area where 1st Lt Martin's platoon was bivouacked.

1st Lt Martin immediately organized a firing line among the men in the foxholes closest to his own, and temporarily stopped the headlong rush of the enemy. Several of his men were lying wounded in positions overrun by the enemy and the lieutenant was determined to rescue them.

He worked his way through the Japanese to the surrounded Marines. While sustaining two severe wounds, he shot any Japanese who attempted to intercept him. He located his wounded men and directed them to their own lines. 

Four Japanese soldiers took possession of an abandoned machine-gun pit and began throwing a barrage of hand grenades on 1st Lt Martin's group.

First Lieutenant Harry Linn Martin, alone and armed only with a pistol, boldly charged the hostile position and killed all four occupants. He realized that his remaining comrades could not repulse another organized attack, and called to his men to follow and then charged into the midst of the strong enemy force, firing his pistol, killing and scattering them until he fell, mortally wounded by a grenade.


























Because of his Heroic Actions that day, he was awarded the Medal Of Honor.

The Medal of Honor and citation were presented to his parents by Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal at a ceremony in the Navy Department on May 6, 1946.



















First Lieutenant Martin was buried in the 5th Division Cemetery at Iwo Jima. At the request of his mother, his remains were returned to Ohio in 1948 for private burial in Oakwood Cemetery, Bucyrus, Ohio.



















Medal of Honor

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

FIRST LIEUTENANT

HARRY L. MARTIN

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE














CITATION:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Platoon Leader attached to Company C, Fifth Pioneer Battalion, Fifth Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 26 March 1945. With his sector of the Fifth Pioneer Battalion bivouac area penetrated by a concentrated enemy attack launched a few minutes before dawn, First Lieutenant Martin instantly organized a firing line with the Marines nearest his foxhole and succeeded, in checking momentarily the headlong rush of the Japanese.

Determined to rescue several of his men trapped in positions overrun by the enemy, he defied intense hostile fire to work his way through the Japanese to the surrounded Marines. Although sustaining two severe wounds, he blasted the Japanese who attempted to intercept him, located his beleaguered men and directed them to their own lines. When four of the infiltrating enemy took possession of an abandoned machine-gun pit and subjected his sector to a barrage of hand grenades, First Lieutenant Martin alone and armed only with a pistol, boldly charged the hostile position and killed all its occupants. Realizing that his remaining comrades could not repulse another organized attack, he called to his men to follow and then charged into the midst of the strong enemy force, firing his weapon and scattering them until he fell, mortally wounded by a grenade. By his outstanding valor, indomitable fighting spirit and tenacious determination in the face of overwhelming odds, First Lieutenant Martin permanently disrupted a coordinated Japanese attack and prevented a greater loss of life in his own and adjacent platoons and his inspiring leadership and unswerving devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in service of his country.

/S/ HARRY S. TRUMAN



Other Honors



The United States Navy Maritime prepositioning ship USS 1st Lt. Harry L. Martin (T-AK-3015)





















USNS 1st LT Harry L. Martin is one of Military Sealift Command's thirteen Container and Roll- on/ Roll- off Ships and is part of the 32 ships in Military Sealift Command's Prepositioning Program.