Everett P . Pope Major Everett Parker Pope ( July 16 , 1919 – July 16 , 2009 ) was a United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his conspicuous gallantry on Peleliu in September 1944 while leading his men in an assault on a strategic hill , and for holding it , with rocks and bare fists when ammunition ran low , against Japanese suicide attacks . Early life . Pope was born on July 16 , 1919 in Milton , Massachusetts , the son of Laurence Everett Pope and Ruth Parker Pope . He later moved to North Quincy , where he graduated from North Quincy High School in 1936 . He attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick , Maine , and excelled in both academics and athletics . He was the captain of the state - champion tennis team and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and the Beta Theta Pi fraternity . Shortly after graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in French in June 1941 , he enlisted in the U . S . Marine Corps . In about 1942 , Pope married his high school sweetheart , Eleanor Hawkins . The couple had two sons , Laurence E . and Ralph H . Pope . Laurence later served as the U . S . Ambassador to Chad . Marine Corps career . After basic training , Pope attended Officer Candidate School and , on November 1 , 1941 , was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve . He trained at Quantico , Virginia , and New River , North Carolina , prior to going overseas in June 1942 with 1st Battalion , 1st Marines . On August 7 , 1942 , as the leader of a machine gun platoon , he participated in the landing and action at Guadalcanal . In 1943 , he was transferred to Melbourne , Australia with his unit . Later , he again went into combat , as a company commander with the 1st Marine Regiment , in the Cape Gloucester , New Britain campaign , from December 1943 to April 1944 . In the mopping - up operations which followed , he led a 14 - man patrol which in one day killed 20 and captured seven of the enemy during a trek over jungle trails . From September 12 , 1944 to September 30 , 1944 , he took part in action in the Peleliu campaign during which he acted with " conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty " , and for which he would later be awarded the Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart . Although wounded in action on September 20 , he returned to duty the next day , and remained overseas until November 1944 . Pope was promoted to major in January 1945 and assigned for one year as a student in the Japanese language course at Yale University . On July 16 , 1946 , he was assigned an inactive duty status in the Marine Corps , and returned to his home and private employment in Massachusetts . There he became affiliated with the Marine Corps Reserve and commanded the 2nd Infantry Battalion , USMCR , Hingham , Massachusetts , until August 1950 , when he was called to active duty with his battalion upon the outbreak of the Korean War . He served as Executive Officer of 3rd Battalion , 2nd Marines at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune , North Carolina , until September 1951 , when he was released to inactive duty and , shortly thereafter , resigned his commission in the Marine Corps . Medal of Honor action . On September 20 , 1944 , Captain Pope and his company set out to storm Hill 154 , a steep , barren , coral hill protruding from the face of Suicide Ridge , according to a field dispatch from TSgt Joseph L . Alli of Buffalo , New York , a Marine Corps Combat Correspondent . From almost point - blank range , Japanese mortars and field guns opened up on them from adjoining peaks on Suicide Ridge . Pope and his men took Hill 154 at dusk after hours of bloody fighting which nearly annihilated the group . Forced to deploy his men thinly , he nevertheless determined to hold his ground for the night . Immediately after darkness fell , the Japanese started to attack , first in small infiltrating bands , and , when these units failed , in groups of 20 to 25 who tried storming the hill . Each time , the Marines opened fire with everything they had — one light machine gun , several Tommy guns and rifles , and a limited supply of hand grenade s . When the grenades ran low , they hurled rocks . " We would throw three or four rocks , then a grenade . The Japanese didn ' t know which were which , " one Marine said . By sunrise the Marines were beating off the enemy with bare fists and hurling ammunition boxes at them . Finally only eight riflemen remained . When daylight brought deadly fire , Pope was ordered to withdraw . For these actions , Pope was formally presented with the Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman during a ceremony in 1945 . It was Truman ' s first Medal of Honor presentation , and he told Pope that he would rather have the medal than be president . Later life . After his military service , Pope began a career as a banker . He was president of the Workmen ' s Co - operative Bank in Boston , Massachusetts , for more than 25 years beginning in 1953 . At the start of his tenure , he was the youngest bank president in New England at age 34 . He worked in savings and loan s and supported the federal student loan program , serving in 1982 as the first Chairman of the Board of Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation . After retiring in 1983 , he returned to Brunswick , Maine , and lived near his alma mater , Bowdoin College . He was active on Bowdoin ' s governing boards for 27 years , from 1961 to 1988 , serving as president of the board of overseers and chair of the board of trustees . He established the Pope Scholarship Fund in the 1980s and , with other Bowdoin alumni , established the Haldane Cup , an award presented to a senior who demonstrates the leadership and character of Marine Corps Captain Andrew Haldane . Haldane , who was killed in the Battle of Peleliu , was the captain of the 1940 Bowdoin football team and a classmate of Pope . In 1987 , the school awarded Pope an honorary Doctor of Laws degree . Pope and his wife Eleanor lived on Amelia Island in Florida and on Great Pond in Belgrade Lakes , Maine , before failing health spurred them to return to the midcoast area of Maine to be nearer their sons . The couple entered the Hill House assisted - living facility in Bath in September 2008 . His wife died there in January 2009 , and Pope himself died six months later , on the morning of his 90th birthday . Everett and Eleanor Pope were cremated and , on September 15 , 2009 , buried together in Arlington National Cemetery . Medal of Honor citation . The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to CAPTAIN EVERETT P . POPE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS for service as set forth in the following CITATION : For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Commanding Officer of Company C , First Battalion , First Marines , First Marine Division , during action against enemy Japanese forces on Peleliu Island , Palau Group , on 19 – 20 September 1944 . Subjected to point - blank cannon fire which caused heavy casualties and badly disorganized his company while assaulting a steep coral hill , Captain Pope rallied his men and gallantly led them to the summit in the face of machine - gun , mortar , and sniper fire . Forced by wide - spread hostile attack to deploy the remnants of his company thinly in order to hold the ground won , and with his machine - guns out of action and insufficient water and ammunition , he remained on the exposed hill with twelve men and one wounded officer , determined to hold through the night . Attacked continuously with grenades , machine - guns , and rifles from three sides and twice subjected to suicidal charges during the night , he and his valiant men fiercely beat back or destroyed the enemy , resorting to hand - to - hand combat as the supply of ammunition dwindled and still maintaining his lines with his eight remaining riflemen when daylight brought more deadly fire and he was ordered to withdraw . His valiant leadership against devastating odds while protecting the units below from heavy Japanese attack reflects the highest credit upon Captain Pope and the United States Naval Service / S / FRANKLIN D . ROOSEVELT