MG. James Louis Day

                       (USMC)

 

U.S. Marine Corps Major General James Lewis Day of E. St. Louis, IL, was awarded

the *Medal of Honor* for his

extraordinary actions from

May 14-17, 1945,

during the Battle of Okinawa.

 

Day joined the Marine Corps

in 1943 and saw combat in

both Guam and the Marshall

Islands. On April 1, 1945, Day,

at 19, deployed to Okinawa

as a squad leader with

the 2nd Battalion,

22nd Marine Regiment,

6th Marine Division.

 

From May 14 to May 16,

using heavy artillery and

mortar fire, Japanese troops

assaulted a hill on Okinawa

that the Americans called

“Sugar Loaf.”

Most of the Marines defending

Sugar Loaf were killed.

Day and the surviving squad

members took cover

in a foxhole and used grenades, rifles and machine guns

to repel waves of

enemy attackers, some of

whom came within only

a few feet of their position.

Day fought mostly alone

and suffered shrapnel wounds

and white phosphorous burns.

 

On May 17, the exhausted Day

and his squad were relieved.

Their foxhole was surrounded

by over 100 dead Japanese soldiers.

 

Day was recommended for

a *Medal of Honor* for his actions at Sugar Loaf.

Many of the men who

witnessed the battle were

killed soon afterward,

including the battalion

commander and the paperwork

for Day’s recommendation was

lost. Day chose not to pursue

the matter. He remained in the Marine Corps and fought in the

Korean and Vietnam wars.

 

In 1980, a retired Marine

discovered carbon copies of

Day’s *Medal of Honor*

recommendation among

his wartime possessions.

The paperwork was resubmitted but progressed slowly through

the approval process.

 On Jan. 20, 1998,

in a White House ceremony,

Day was awarded

the *Medal of Honor* that he

had earned more than half

a century earlier.

 

Day retired from

the Marine Corps in 1986

as a major general.

He was the last active-duty

Marine to have served as a

combat infantryman in WWII,

Korea and Vietnam. He is

believed to have been the only

Marine infantryman wounded

and decorated for valor in all

three wars. 

 

Day died on Oct. 28, 1998,

at the age of 73.

 

제임스 루이스 데이 소장
(미 해병대)

일리노이주 동부 세인트루이스 출신의 미 해병대 소장 제임스 루이스 데이는

 1945년 5월 14일부터 17일까지 오키나와 전투에서 

뛰어난 활약을 펼친 공로로 *명예 훈장*을 수여받았습니다.
데이는 1943년 해병대에 입대하여 괌과 마셜 제도에서 전투에 참전했습니다.

 1945년 4월 1일, 데이는 19세의 나이로

 해병 제6사단 제22해병연대 제2대대 분대장으로 오키나와에 파병되었습니다.
5월 14일부터 16일까지 일본군은 중포와 박격포를 사용하여 

미군이 "슈거 로프"라고 불렀던 오키나와의 한 고지를 공격했습니다.
슈거 로프를 방어하던 해병대원 대부분이 전사했습니다.
데이와 생존한 분대원들은 참호에 숨어 수류탄, 소총, 기관총을 사용하여 적의 공격 물결을 물리쳤습니다. 

적의 공격자 중 일부는 진지에서 불과 몇 피트 거리까지 접근했습니다. 

데이는 대부분 혼자 싸웠고 파편상과 백린탄 화상을 입었습니다. 

5월 17일, 지친 데이와 그의 분대는 교대했습니다. 

참호는 100명이 넘는 일본군 전사자들에게 포위되었습니다.

 데이는 슈거 로프 전투에서의 활약으로 *명예 훈장*을 받을 자격이 있다고 추천받았습니다. 

전투를 목격한 많은 병사들이 곧 전사했고, 대대장도 포함되었습니다.

 데이의 추천서 관련 서류는 분실되었습니다.

 데이는 더 이상 참전하지 않기로 결정했습니다. 

그는 해병대에 남아 한국 전쟁과 베트남 전쟁에 참전했습니다.

 1980년, 한 퇴역 해병대원이 데이의 전시 소지품 중에서 

그의 *명예훈장* 추천서 사본을 발견했습니다.
서류는 다시 제출되었지만 승인 절차는 더디게 진행되었습니다.
1998년 1월 20일, 백악관에서 열린 시상식에서 데이는

 50년도 더 전에 받았던  *명예훈장*을 수여받았습니다.

데이는 1986년 소장으로 해병대에서 전역했습니다.
그는 제2차 세계 대전, 한국 전쟁, 베트남 전쟁에서 전투 보병으로 복무한 마지막 현역 해병대원이었습니다. 

그는 세 차례의 전쟁에서 모두 부상을 입고 용맹 훈장을 받은 유일한 해병대 보병으로 여겨집니다.

데이는 1998년 10월 28일 73세의 나이로 사망했습니다.

 

 

2025년 5월 14일 수요일