Joseph J . McCarthy Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy ( August 10 , 1911 – June 15 , 1996 ) was a mustang officer in the United States Marine Corps Reserve , who served during World War II and the Korean War . He was also the Superintendent of Ambulances in the Chicago Fire Department , however , with respect for his wartime heroics , firefighters continued to address him by his wartime military rank of " Captain . " Historian Bill D . Ross would write about him in 1985 : McCarthy was thirty three ; overage for a company commander . He was Irish and he looked it : husky , red complexioned , pug nose . Superior officers sometimes found his manner abrasive , but unlike many Irishmen , he wasn ' t talkative . He was , in fact , laconic and tight - lipped . " I don ' t like malarkey or bullshit , " the Chicagoan often said . But Joe McCarthy knew the uncompromising business of battle ; he had the Silver Star for leading his company up a savagely contested hill on Saipan and his men called him " the best damned officer in the Marine Corps . " The building that houses the headquarters of 2nd Battalion 24th Marines in Chicago is named in his honor . Lieutenant Colonel McCarthy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery following a funeral mass at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago . Marine Corps service . McCarthy first enlisted in the Marine Corps on February 20 , 1937 in Chicago and served for four years . Following the attack on Pearl Harbor , he re - enlisted and returned to active duty in February 1942 . In June of that year , he was discharged with the rank of first sergeant in order to accept a commission in the Marine Corps Reserve . McCarthy joined the 4th Marine Division shortly thereafter , and went overseas in January 1944 . While deployed , he took part in the Roi - Namur , Saipan - Tinian , and Iwo Jima campaigns . He was awarded the Silver Star for heroism as a rifle company commander on Saipan in 1944 . He received the Purple Heart with Gold Star for wounds received in action on Saipan and Iwo Jima . On February 21 , 1945 , as a captain , he earned the Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima , while leading an assault team across exposed ground to wipe out positions holding up the advance of his company . " I was scared all the time , " McCarthy said later . " Any man tells you he wasn ' t scared was an imbecile . But you dealt with it . " President Harry S . Truman presented the Medal of Honor to McCarthy in ceremonies at the White House , held on October 5 , 1945 . As Truman presented the Medal , he told McCarthy , " I ' d rather have one of these than be President . " Released from active duty following the war , he held the grade of lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve . After the war . In 1949 , McCarthy drove from Maine to North Carolina visiting the families of 26 Marines who had been killed in action on Iwo Jima . Each one of them , he told the families , had been just as brave as he was , just not as lucky . McCarthy was the Grand Marshall of the City of Chicago ' s St . Patrick ' s Day Parade in 1959 . McCarthy retired from the Marine Corps Reserve in 1971 and from the Chicago Fire Department in 1973 . Thereafter , he and his wife split their time between homes in Wisconsin and Delray Beach , Florida . His wife , Anita , died in 1978 . The couple had no children . " I would hope and pray there never be another Medal of Honor issued , " he said in a 1992 interview . " I hope and pray there ' s never any more wars . " Medal of Honor citation . The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to CAPTAIN JOSEPH J . McCARTHY UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE for service as set forth in the following CITATION :