William G . Walsh Gunnery Sergeant William Gary Walsh ( April 7 , 1922 – February 27 , 1945 ) was a United States Marine who heroically sacrificed his life to save the lives of his fellow Marines during the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II . For his actions on February 27 , 1945 , he posthumous ly received the Medal of Honor . Biography . William Walsh was born on April 7 , 1922 , in Roxbury , Massachusetts . He attended public schools in Boston before enlisting in the United States Marine Corps in April 1942 . He went to boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island , South Carolina , and advanced training at Camp Lejeune , North Carolina . From Camp Lejeune , he went to Samoa and was assigned to a unit of Marine scouts . His next assignment was with the 2nd Marine Raider battalion , the famed Carlson ' s Raiders . During the United States ' war with Japan in the Pacific , he saw action at Guadalcanal , Bougainville , Tarawa , and in the Russell Islands . Following two years of service in the Pacific theatre , he returned to the United States . He returned overseas later with the 5th Marine Division in time for the Iwo Jima invasion . It was at Iwo Jima , while leading his men against a fortified hill on February 27 , 1945 , he threw himself on a hand grenade , sacrificing his life to save the lives of fellow Marines For this heroic act , he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor . Initially buried in the 5th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima , GnySgt Walsh ' s remains were later reinterred in Arlington National Cemetery on April 20 , 1948 . Medal of Honor citation . The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to GUNNERY SERGEANT WILLIAM C . WALSH UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE 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 as Leader of an Assault Platoon , serving with Company G , Third Battalion , Twenty - seventh Marines , Fifth Marine Division , in action against enemy Japanese forces at Iwo Jima , Volcano Islands , on 27 February 1945 . With the advance of his company toward Hill 362 disrupted by vicious machine - gun fire from a forward position which guarded the approaches to this key enemy stronghold , Gunnery Sergeant Walsh fearlessly charged at the head of his platoon against the Japanese entrenched on the ridge above him , utterly oblivious to the unrelenting fury of hostile automatic weapon s and hand grenade s employed with fanatic desperation to smash his daring assault . Thrown back by the enemy ' s savage resistance , he once again led his men in a seemingly impossible attack up the steep , rocky slope , boldly defiant of the annihilating streams of bullets which saturated the area , and despite his own casualty losses and the overwhelming advantage held by the Japanese in superior numbers and dominate position , gained the ridge ' s top only to be subjected to an intense barrage of hand grenades thrown by the remaining Japanese staging a suicidal last stand on the reverse slope . When one of the grenades fell in the midst of his surviving men , huddled together in a small trench , Gunnery Sergeant Walsh in a final valiant act of complete self - sacrifice , instantly threw himself upon the deadly bomb , absorbing with his own body the full and terrific force of the explosion . Through his extraordinary initiative and inspiring valor in the face of almost certain death , he saved his comrades from injury and possible loss of life and enabled his company to seize and hold this vital enemy position . He gallantly gave his life for his country . / S / HARRY S . TRUMAN