Leonard C . Brostrom Leonard C . Brostrom was a soldier in the United States Army who died during the Philippines Campaign of 1944 – 45 during World War II . He received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions during this campaign . Brostorm was a member and also served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints . Biography . Leonard Carl Brostrom was born on November 23 , 1919 in Preston , Franklin County , Idaho . He was the first child of Carl John Brostrum ( Feb . 17 , 1894 – Mar . 13 , 1975 ) and Louise Adolfina Hillstead ( Aug . 17 , 1893 – Sep . 25 , 1961 ) who were married on August 21 , 1918 . Leonard was Killed in action on October 28 , 1944 near Dagami , Leyte , Philippine Islands , now the Republic of the Philippines . Leonard is buried in the Preston Cemetery , Block 1 , lot 18 . Leonard Brostrum grew up in the farming community of Preston , Idaho and attended the then primary and secondary school called the Oneida Stake Academy built by the Oneida Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints . Ezra Taft Benson and Harold B . Lee both of whom later served as presidents of the LDS Church and Medal of Honor recipient Mervyn S . Bennion also attended this school . In 1922 , this school was renamed Preston High School even though it was referred to as the Academy for some time there after . Nathan K . Van Noy , another Medal of Honor recipient , attended the newer Preston High School . Brostrum grew up attending Church at the Oneida Ward in Preston . He grew up during the depression years farming , hunting and fishing while doing odd jobs for both pocket money and LDS Church service . His younger brothers Dean ( 1921 – 1999 ) and Dale ( 1925 – 2003 ) often tagged along until Leonard served a three - year LDS mission to California . Leonard was on his Church mission when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7 , 1941 . After successfully completing his Church Mission he returned home and soon joined the U . S . Army in March 1942 . Military service . Brostrum completed basic training at Fort Ord , California and was assigned to the 7th Motorized Division . Shortly after arriving at Camp San Luis Obispo , the Division began training in the Mojave Desert in preparation for its planned deployment to the African theater . On January 1 , 1943 his Motorized Division was renamed the 7th Infantry Division ( light ) . Brostrum and the other soldiers began rigorous amphibious assault training under US Marines from the Fleet Marine Force , before being deployed to fight in the Pacific theater instead of Africa . General Holland Smith oversaw the unit ' s training . Combat . Private Brostrum was assigned to Company F , 2nd Battalion of the 17th Infantry Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division and participated in the retaking of the Aleutian Islands , Eastern Mandates and Leyte ; all of which started with amphibious assaults . Brostrum ' s campaign ribbons for these contain an arrowhead representing being in the amphibious assault landings . Aleutian islands . Pvt . Brostrum first saw combat in the amphibious assault on Attu Island ' s " red beach " , which was the western - most Japanese entrenchment in the Aleutian islands chain . He landed with his Company on May 1 , 1943 spearheaded by the 17th Infantry Regiment , and fought an intense battle over the tundra against strong Japanese resistance . Brostrum and the rest of the soldiers from the 17th Regiment were not trained or equipped for Arctic combat on Attu . Soaked boots , cold weather and was neither properly equipped nor clothed for a northern campaign , for in those days the U . S . Army knew practically nothing about waging extensive winter warfare . Nevertheless , Brostrum and his fellow soldiers from the 17th carried on , and for this action they won a Distinguished Unit Citation . During the battle Brostrum with " Company F ' s attack in the pass between the valleys was magnificent . The GI ' s used rifles , bayonets , and hand grenades to drive the enemy out of a series of trenches near the vital Cold Mountain . " The fight for the island culminated in a battle at Chichagof Harbor , when the division destroyed all Japanese resistance on the island on 29 May , after a suicidal Japanese bayonet charge . The 17th regiment then invaded Kiska expecting another serious fight , but Brostrum and the others found out that the Japenese had evacuated the island prior to the American landing . Eastern Mandates . The Eastern Mandates are part of the Marshall Islands where Brostrum and the rest of his unit invaded Kwajalein atoll after four months of training in Hawaii . Under their new leader Major General C . H . Corlett the amphibious assaults on the 42 islands of the atoll went " most nearly perfect . " It is not certain which specific island ( s ) Company F and Brostrum captured . The Division returned to Hawaii for rest and recuperation . Then they trained for the next assault . Leyte . Leyte , the third largest of the Philippine Islands was invaded by Brostrum and the rest of the 7th Division on October 20 , 1944 . Brostrum in Company F , 2nd Battalion of the 17th Regiment attacked from the center , driving down the Dulag – Burauen Road . Within 48 hours they had captured San Pablo , Burauen , and Bayug Airfield . On October 27 , 1944 the 17th took the strong points south of the town of Dagami . At 7 : 30 AM , 0730 hours in military time , Brostrum , " a lead scout " with Company F struck out on the left flank of the attack . Their job with the rest of the 2nd Battalion was to envelope Dagami from the American left to pin and destroy Japanese Army resistance in the town . Brostrum with the lead assault platoon of Company F encountered " withering fire from pillboxes , trenches , and enemy spider holes . " . The enemy were well entrenched and camouflaged . Enemy fields of fire were well calculated with criss - crossing machine gun bunkers supported by infantry in trenches . PFC Brostrum was hit by enemy weapon fire three times as he fought his way through a bamboo thicket that was part of the enemy line . Brostrum dashed to the rear of a large enemy machine gun bunker / pillbox . During his charge from the bamboo thicket he was visible not only to the rest of his company , but to the Japanese riflemen shooting at him as well . As he threw several grenades into the bunker , six Japanese infantrymen charged with bayonets fixed . Brostrum was able to kill one and wound others causing them to retreat . Brostrum was hit a fourth time and fell to the ground . Again , in view of the Americans and Japanese soldiers he rose to his feet and assaulted the bunker with grenades and rifle fire . The enemy ran out of the bunker as Brostrum fell seriously wounded . " Staff Sergeant Paul Doty and PFC ' s Howard J . Evans and Eldridge V . Sorenson , who had caught up with Brostrom by this time , " killed many of the fleeing enemy and called for a medic . PFC Brostrum was carried to the aid station but sucumbed to his wounds . During the same combat action and time period , PFC John F . Thorson , from Company G , attacked an enemy trench with his BAR and was within twenty feet when he was seriously wounded . The rest of his platoon rushed forward sweeping the enemy from the trench line . An enemy grenade landed nearby and Thorson rolled on top of it to protect his buddies . He was killed instantly . Private First Class Brostrum , Company F , is one of the only two members of the 17th Infantry Regiment to have received the Medal of Honor for their actions in combat . The other was PFC John F . Thorson from Company G . Medal of Honor citation . General Orders : War Department , General Orders No . 104 ( November 15 , 1945 ) Action Date : 28 - Oct - 44 Service : Army Rank : Private First Class Company : Company F Regiment : 17th Infantry Regiment Division : 7th Infantry Division Citation : " The President of the United States of America , in the name of Congress , takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor ( Posthumously ) to Private First Class Leonard C . Brostrom , United States Army , for extraordinary heroism in action as a rifleman with an assault platoon of Company F , 17th Infantry Regiment , 7th Infantry Division , which ran into powerful resistance near Dagami , Leyte , Philippine Islands , on 28 October 1944 . From pillboxes , trenches , and spider holes , so well camouflaged that they could be detected at no more than 20 yards , the enemy poured machinegun and rifle fire , causing severe casualties in the platoon . Realizing that a key pillbox in the center of the strong point would have to be knocked out if the company were to advance , Private First Class Brostrom , without orders and completely ignoring his own safety , ran forward to attack the pillbox with grenades . He immediately became the prime target for all the riflemen in the area , as he rushed to the rear of the pillbox and tossed grenades through the entrance . Six enemy soldiers left a trench in a bayonet charge against the heroic American , but he killed one and drove the others off with rifle fire . As he threw more grenades from his completely exposed position he was wounded several times in the abdomen and knocked to the ground . Although suffering intense pain and rapidly weakening from loss of blood , he slowly rose to his feet and once more hurled his deadly missiles at the pillbox . As he collapsed , the enemy began fleeing from the fortification and were killed by riflemen of his platoon . Private First Class Brostrom died while being carried from the battlefield , but his intrepidity and unhesitating willingness to sacrifice himself in a one - man attack against overwhelming odds enabled his company to reorganize against attack , and annihilate the entire enemy position . " Brostrum ' s MOH journey . In the early 1950s , Brostrum ' s Medal of Honor was donated by his family to the Franklin County Courthouse , in Preston , where it was displayed with his picture and a few mementos . When a new set of county commissioners decided to remove the display cases , the local American Legion then displayed Brostrum ' s Medal of Honor . In time , local veterans dwindled and the Legion Hall was taken over by the County . The last commander of the Preston American Legion Chapter in Preston then took Brostrum ' s display home for safe keeping . By this time , all of Brostrum ' s family had died except for a niece . She did not want the Medal of Honor display citing she would not be able to preserve it properly . A local lawyer then was asked to keep the display safe in his office . The medal sat there until a retired U . S . Army lieutenant colonel , who was then the command historian for the United States Military Academy at West Point , called the lawyer doing research on PFC Brostrum ' s life . This eventually led to a discussion of how to properly honor Leonard C . Brostrum and display his Medal of Honor . Since Brostrum had been a lifetime member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints , the Church History Library was contacted and agreed to preserve the Medal . Brostrum is one of five members of the LDS Church to have received the Medal of Honor during World War II . Two other Preston , Idaho former citizens Mervyn S . Bennion and Nathan K . Van Noy were also given the Medal of Honor . Legacy . A United States Army transport ship , was named in his honor in 1948 . The ship was built in 1943 for the United States Maritime Commission as SS " Marine Eagle , a Type C4 - S - B1 tank carrier , by Sun Shipbuilding during World War II . In 1948 , she was transferred to the United States Army as USAT " Private Leonard C . Brostrom after Leonard C . Brostrom , a recipient of the Medal of Honor . In 1950 , the ship was transferred to the Military Sea Transport Service of the U . S . Navy as a United States Naval Ship staffed by a civilian crew . After ending her naval service , she entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet in October 1980 and was sold for scrapping in June 1982 .