Kudos to Jerry Heck of Oakley for the letter he wrote to The Park Record reminding us that Memorial Day is a day when the ultimate sacrifice is to be honored, not merely a day to shop the mattress and appliance sales.
Personally, I spend some time each Memorial Day perusing the official Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient database at cmohs.org/recipients. While not all recipients were killed in service, far too many of them were.
Every story there is extraordinary and will take your breath away. Here’s just one example from the website (I originally learned of it in a newspaper article long ago), the amazing story of newly promoted U.S. Army Capt. Ben Salomon on Saipan in the Pacific Theater during World War II. You can read more about his story at https://achh.army.mil/history/corps-dental-leaders-citation and https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/benjamin-l-salomon
Capt. Ben Salomon was an army dentist. That’s right, a dentist.
Of course, in active combat operations there was little work for the regimental dentist, so Ben immediately volunteered to replace the 2nd Battalion’s combat surgeon who had been wounded in a mortar attack on June 22, 1944, on Saipan. With reports of a planned Japanese night counterattack circulating, the 1st and 2nd Battalions established a tight perimeter defense of foxholes well supported by infantry heavy weapons and artillery.
The reports were correct. Of the original 30,000 Japanese soldiers, only a few thousand remained, and those were disorganized and short of food and weapons. Gen. Saito, the Japanese army commander, ordered all remaining Japanese soldiers, sailors, and civilians — possibly as many as 5,000 or 6,000 men — to gather about a mile in front of the 1st and 2nd Battalion positions the evening of July 6.
Saito addressed his men and issued the following order: “We will advance to attack the American forces and will all die an honorable death. Each man will kill ten Americans.” Then Saito committed suicide, along with the naval commander on Saipan, Admiral Chichi Nagumi. Saito’s men followed his orders and moved resolutely forward against the 1st and 2nd Battalions despite heavy American artillery fire. It was one of the largest attacks attempted in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
Ben Salomon had set up his aid station in a small tent about 50 yards behind the forward foxholes and 30 yards from the shoreline. Although both battalions fought furiously, the enemy soon penetrated the battalions’ combined perimeter and inflicted overwhelming casualties.
Within 10 minutes of the beginning of the attack, his aid station was overwhelmed with over 30 wounded. Salomon was working steadily on the most serious cases inside the tent when Japanese soldiers began to enter. Ben shot the first one who had bayoneted a wounded defenseless American lying on a stretcher. Two more charged through the tent entrance. Ben clubbed them both with a rifle, then shot one and bayoneted the other. Four more began to crawl under the sides of the tent. He shot one, bayoneted one, stabbed another with a knife, and head butted the fourth who was then shot by a wounded patient.
Ben ran out of the tent to get help to defend the aid station. He quickly saw that the situation was hopeless. The Japanese suicide masses had overwhelmed the two under-strength American battalions. Pockets of resistance fought on inside the perimeter, but the bulk of the survivors were being pushed back toward Tanapag village.
Salomon returned to the tent and ordered his aid men to evacuate the wounded while he stayed behind to hold off the enemy and cover their withdrawal. Salomon then grabbed a rifle and fought on with the few Americans still resisting inside the perimeter. After four men were killed while manning a machine gun, Salomon took control of it. That was the last time anyone saw Salomon alive. When his body was later found, 98 dead enemy soldiers were piled in front of his position.
Capt. Ben Salomon was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on May 1, 2002, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. His extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself his unit and the U.S. Army.
My own father, like so many of his generation, dropped out of high school a few days after Pearl Harbor, lied about his age, and joined the Navy. Although he survived, he was on a destroyer that was hit by a kamikaze, killing many servicemen.
Those who gave their lives in our armed forces didn’t do so to protect Democrat-Americans, or Republican-Americans, or any of the numerous hyphenated-Americans. They did so to protect all Americans. We should remember that.
Phil Palmintere
Park City