![\"Portrait](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/2\/29\/John_Basilone%2C_September_1943_%2810931006014%29.jpg\/960px-John_Basilone%2C_September_1943_%2810931006014%29.jpg\")
\nGySgt, USMC \u2014 World War II<\/strong><\/p>\n John Basilone was born on November 4, 1916, in Buffalo, New York, the sixth of ten children in an Italian-American family, and grew up in Raritan, New Jersey. He left school after middle school and worked as a golf caddy at the local country club. At seventeen he enlisted in the U.S. Army, served three years in the Philippines, and became a champion boxer known as “Manila John.” After a stint driving a truck back home, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in July 1940, hoping to return to the Pacific he had come to love.<\/p>\n Sergeant Basilone landed on Guadalcanal with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, in September 1942, in charge of two sections of heavy machine guns guarding the approaches to Henderson Field.<\/p>\n On the night of October 24\u201325, 1942, a Japanese regiment of some 3,000 men attacked his position in waves. One of Basilone’s gun sections was knocked out, leaving only two of his men able to fight on. He moved another gun into position, repaired a second under fire and manned it himself, and when ammunition ran critically low and the supply lines were cut, he fought his way through enemy lines to bring back shells for his gunners. Near dawn, with the ammunition gone, he held the line with a pistol and a machete. By morning the attacking regiment had been virtually annihilated, and only Basilone and two other Marines of his group were left standing. For this fight he received the Medal of Honor.<\/p>\n Sent home a hero, Basilone toured the country selling war bonds, but he turned down a commission and an instructor’s billet and fought to return to his Marines. On February 19, 1945, the first day of the invasion of Iwo Jima, Gunnery Sergeant Basilone single-handedly destroyed a Japanese blockhouse that was pinning down his company, then guided a tank to safety through a minefield under heavy fire. He was killed that same morning and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross \u2014 making him the only enlisted Marine of World War II to receive both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, and his story was retold in the 2010 miniseries The Pacific.<\/p>\n Sources: Wikipedia<\/a> \u00b7 Congressional Medal of Honor Society<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n