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Basilone: The Man - The Ship
(January 27, 2010)
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The US Post Office has issued a new set of stamps honoring
distinguished Marines. It would appear that a lot of effort was
expended in convincing the post office to honor these military
heroes. There are four Marines included in the stamp set: Lt.
General John A. Lejeune (they named Camp Lejeune, NC after him),
Lt. General Lewis “Chesty “ Puller (of WWII & Korea service),
Sergeant Major Daniel J. Daly (two time Medal of Honor
recipient) and Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone. Sgt. Basilone
was the one that caught my attention. My father, Navy Master
Chief, Basil Harl served on a destroyer name after Sgt. Basilone
(USS Basilone DD824.) You notice the similarity of my father's
first name and the name of his ship. As a small child I thought
maybe they had named | |
Van E. Harl |
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the ship after my dad. So the name of the USS Basilone has
always remained close to the surface of the memories of my
dependent naval adventures with my father. He served on the USS
Basilone in 1954. Years later, in 1967, my father was stationed
at the Navy base in Norfolk, VA, and the USS Basilone was home
ported there also. He would point the ship out to me when I went
out to the pier with him. |
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The ship was commissioned in 1949 and left
active duty in the 1970's. The USS Basilone served
well during its time in the fleet, but it was the
fighting efforts of Gunnery Sergeant “Manila” John
Basilone who started the legendary Naval/Marine
Corps history of the name Basilone. For most people
the name Basilone means very little, but not to a
Marine. When you get to Marine basic training the
Corps wants its new recruits to understand why they
are there and learn and remember the history of the
United States Marine Corps.
I would suggest that teaching military history to
its members has the highest level of concentrated in
the Marine Corps. The Marines believe it is hard to
understand what you are about and what you “stand
for” if you do not know where you came from and how
you got there. History is important to the Corps, as
much as to remember the past, as to prepare for the
future. The Marines have a positive record of
continuously making new history for this country.
Sgt. John Basilone was one of those history makers.
He was from a large Italian family in New Jersey.
With few jobs available in the early 1930s, young
John joined the Army (which was not easy to do
during the depression) and was stationed in the
Philippines. He was a boxer and his winning in the
ring earned him the nickname “Manila” John – a name
he was continued to be known by, right up to the
time of his death. With his enlistment up, he left
the Army, but joined the Marines when it looked like
the US was headed to war. He was stationed on
Guadalcanal in the Pacific and was in charge of two
sections of heavy.30-caliber machines guns.
His position was attacked over the course of days by
a Japanese infantry unit of 400 men. Most of the men
in Sgt. Basilone's unit were either killed or
wounded to the point they could not continue the
fight. “Manila” John never stopped. He went for more
ammunition, fixed broken machine guns and saw to the
medical needs of his men, all while under the
intense fire of the enemy. In the final attack of
the Japanese, he was reduced to stopping them with
only his Colt.45 pistol and his fists. In the end he
was personally credited with 38 enemy dead. |
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Marine
Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone
USS Basilone |
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For his efforts Sgt. Basilone was the first enlisted man in
WWII to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was
pulled back to the States to go on war bond drives and made
the cover of Life magazine. The military tries to keep its
Medal of Honor recipients out of harm's way, but this was
not for “Manila” John. He returned to action on Iwo Jima.
Just after destroying an enemy block-house single handedly,
he was killed by an exploding mortar round. He was
posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart and
buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery. And
of course the USS Basilone was named after Gunnery Sergeant
“Manila” John Basilone, for his fighting efforts in defense
of his country.
Buy the stamps and honor these men. Semper Fi. | |
By
Van E. Harl
Copyright
2006 About Author:
Major Van E. Harl, USAF Ret., was a career police officer in the U.S. Air
Force. He was the Deputy Chief of police at two Air Force Bases and the
Commander of Law Enforcement Operations at another. Major Harl is a graduate of
the U.S. Army Infantry School, the Air Force Squadron Officer School and the Air
Command and Staff College. After retiring from the Air Force he was a state
police officer in Nevada.
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