John Basilone

Basilone's mother, Theadora Bencivenga, was born in 1889 and grew up in Manville, New Jersey, but her parents, Carlo and Catrina, also came from Benevento.

Basilone's parents met at a church gathering and married three years later.

Basilone grew up in the nearby Raritan Town (now Borough of Raritan) where he attended St. Bernard Parochial School.

After completing middle school at age 15, he dropped out prior to attending high school.

Basilone worked as a golf caddy for the local country club before joining the military.

John Basilone (November 4, 1916 – February 19, 1945) was a United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant who received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle for Henderson Field in the Guadalcanal campaign, and the Navy Cross posthumously for extraordinary heroism during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

He was the only enlisted Marine to receive both of these decorations in World War II.

Basilone was born in his Italian American parents' home on November 4, 1916, in Buffalo, New York.

He was the sixth of ten children.

His five older siblings were born in Raritan, New Jersey, before the family moved to Buffalo where John was born; they returned to Raritan in 1918.

His father, Salvatore Basilone, emigrated from, in the province of Benevento, Italy, and settled in Raritan.

Basilone enlisted in the United States Army in July 1934 and completed his three-year enlistment with service in the Philippines, where he was a champion boxer.

He enlisted in the Marine Corps on June 3, 1940, after serving three years in the United States Army with duty in the Philippines.

He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1940, in Baltimore, Maryland.

He went to recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, followed by training at Marine Corps Base Quantico and New River.

The Marines sent him to Guantánamo Bay for his next assignment and then to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands as a member of "D" Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division.

He was deployed to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and in August 1942, he took part in the invasion of Guadalcanal.

In October, he and the two machine-gun sections under his command held off an attack by a numerically far superior Japanese force.

He was one of only three Marines in that group to survive.

His actions at Guadalcanal earned him the Medal of Honor.

On October 24, 1942, during the Battle for Henderson Field, his unit came under attack by a regiment of about 3,000 soldiers from the Japanese Sendai Division using machine guns, grenades, and mortars against the American heavy machine guns.

Basilone commanded two sections of machine guns which fought for the next two days until only Basilone and two other Marines were left standing.

As the battle went on, ammunition became critically low.

Despite their supply lines having been cut off by enemies who had infiltrated into the rear, Basilone fought through hostile ground to resupply his heavy machine gunners with urgently needed supplies.

Basilone moved an extra gun into position and maintained continual fire against the incoming Japanese forces.

He then repaired and manned another machine gun, holding the defensive line until relief arrived.

When the last of the ammunition ran out shortly before dawn on the second day, Basilone, using his pistol and a machete, held off the Japanese soldiers attacking his position.

By the end of the engagement, Japanese forces opposite the Marines' lines had been virtually annihilated.

For his actions during the battle, Basilone received the United States military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor.

Afterwards, Private First Class Nash W. Phillips of Fayetteville, North Carolina, recalled from the battle for Guadalcanal:

"'Basilone had a machine gun on the go for three days and nights without sleep, rest, or food. He was in a good emplacement, and causing the Japanese lots of trouble, not only firing his machine gun, but also using his pistol.'"

In 1943, Basilone returned to the United States and participated in war bond tours.

His arrival was highly publicized, and his hometown held a parade in his honor when he returned.

The homecoming parade occurred on Sunday, September 19 and drew a huge crowd with thousands of people, including politicians, celebrities, and the national press.

The parade made national news in Life magazine and Fox Movietone News.

In February 1945, he was killed in action on the first day of the invasion of Iwo Jima, after he single-handedly destroyed an enemy blockhouse and led a Marine tank under fire safely through a minefield.

Including the Medal of Honor, he has received many honors, including having base streets, military facilities, and two United States Navy destroyers named for him.

In the Army, Basilone was initially assigned to the 16th Infantry at Fort Jay, New York, before being discharged for a day, reenlisting, and being assigned to the 31st Infantry.

After he was released from active duty, Basilone returned home and worked as a truck driver in Reisterstown, Maryland.

After driving trucks for a few years, he wanted to go back to Manila and believed he could get there faster by serving in the Marine Corps rather than in the Army.