The youth enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in December 1942. A rifleman in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, he was already a veteran of bitter fighting when he threw himself upon a Japanese hand grenade in the Peleliu landing, saving four Marines in his unit at the cost of his own life on September 18, 1944. Prior to his death, he had been in two previous battles – New Guinea and Cape Gloucester — and had seen 15 months of overseas duty. In addition to the Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart, he also held the Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal with three battle stars.