Medal of Honor
The desperate fighting that saw Mitchell Paige’s exploits was the culmination of the Battle For Henderson Field, October 23rd to 26th, 1942. It was the third major offensive that sought to recapture Guadalcanal, as the Japanese 17th Army made a desperate bid to burst through US Marine and Army forces guarding the Lunga Perimeter, which protected Henderson Field. Over three days and nights, the Japanese launched a series of assaults around the American perimeter, all of them beaten back with heavy losses.
The most dramatic of those assaults was probably the one that took place on the final night of the battle, directly through Mitchell Paige’s platoon. When the charging Japanese drew within a few hundred yards of his position, Paige ordered his men to open fire. Machine gun and rifle bullets mowed down rows upon rows of the enemy, but they ignored their losses, and pressed their attack to Paige’s position. The fighting soon descended into hand-to-hand combat, as Marines and Japanese infantrymen grappled with each other in the dark, stabbing, clubbing, bayoneting, and sometimes literally fighting tooth and nail by biting and clawing one another.
The first Japanese charge was repulsed, but the respite was only temporary, as the first attack was followed by additional waves of fanatical attackers. As the desperate night dragged on, the unit to Paige’s left was overrun and his men ended up isolated, and fell one after the other, killed or wounded. Eventually, Paige ended up as the sole survivor in his company still on the battle line and capable of fighting. So he fought on, alone.
Paige found himself manning a machine gun position by himself, that was surrounded by an entire Japanese regiment. He kept pouring fire into the enemy, until his machine gun was shot up and put out of action. So he braved heavy fire and broke through enemy lines to a neighboring company, commandeered one of their machine guns, and ordered some riflemen to fix bayonets and follow him. Over the next few hours, Paige made a desperate last stand that saw him alternating between four machine guns, as each overheated or was otherwise put out of action. During that stretch, he singlehandedly broke a Japanese attack that threatened his battalion’s command post.
After beating off one wave of attackers, Paige grabbed a machine gun, and fired it from the waist like a Greatest Generation Arnold Schwarzenegger, charged down a hill to disrupt a Japanese attempt at regrouping. During that charge, a Japanese officer emptied a pistol trying to shoot Paige, but missed. He then drew his samurai sword, but Paige mowed him down before he got close enough to take a swing. All in all, through a series of personal heroics, Paige held his position for ten hours, before reinforcements finally arrived to stabilize the line. Mitchell Paige’s exploits earned him the highest award for valor, and his Medal of Honor citation read:
“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 breakthrough 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“.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
New York Times, November 18th, 2003 – Mitchell Paige, 85, Guadalcanal Hero, Dies
Public Broadcasting System – American Valor Stories: Mitchell Paige
Tara Ross – This Day in History: Mitchell Paige & the Battle of Guadalcanal
War History Online – Mitchell Paige: The Man Who Took On 2500 Japanese, and Won
We Are the Mighty – This Medal of Honor Recipient Walked 200 Miles to Serve in the Marines