Harold C . Agerholm Private First Class Harold Christ Agerholm , USMCR ( January 29 , 1925 – July 7 , 1944 ) served as a Marine during World War II . He received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions while engaged with Japan ese forces on Saipan in the Marianas Islands . Biography . Agerholm was born January 29 , 1925 in Racine , Wisconsin and attended the Racine public schools . After working for five months as a multigaph operator for the Rench Manufacturing Company , he joined the Marine Corps Reserve on July 16 , 1942 . Agerholm received his recruit training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego , California . Upon completion of his training he was assigned to Headquarters and Service Battery , 4th Battalion , 10th Marines , 2nd Marine Division . He embarked for overseas duty on November 3 , 1942 and went to New Zealand , where he trained with his battalion in Wellington for eleven months . He was promoted to private first class in January 1943 , and became the battery store room keeper . He took part in the fighting on Betio Island , Tarawa Atoll , in November 1943 . From Tarawa he went to the Hawaiian Islands with the 2nd Marine Division where they trained for their forthcoming operation on Saipan . Agerholm landed on Saipan three days after D - Day . With the battle for the island raging for three weeks , the enemy launched a vigorous counter - attack on July 7 , 1944 and a neighboring battalion was overrun . PFC Agerholm volunteered to help evacuate casualties . For nearly three hours , he single - handedly evacuated 45 casualties while under intense rifle and mortar fire before being mortally wounded by a Japanese sniper . For this action , he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor . He was also awarded the Purple Heart Medal ( posthumously ) , the Presidential Unit Citation , the Asiatic - Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze stars and the World War II Victory Medal . Agerholm ' s mother was presented his Medal of Honor on June 25 , 1945 by the Commandant of the Ninth Naval District , because of her request — she " didn ' t want any public presentation . " Initially buried in the 2nd Marine Division cemetery on Saipan , PFC Agerholm ' s remains were reinterred in Mound Cemetery , Racine , Wisconsin , in 1947 . Awards and honors . Medal of Honor citation . His Medal of Honor citation reads as follows : Citation : For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 4th Battalion , 10th Marines , 2nd Marine Division , in action against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan , Marianas Islands , July 7 , 1944 . When the enemy launched a fierce , determined counterattack against our positions and overran a neighboring artillery battalion , PFC Agerholm immediately volunteered to assist in the efforts to check the hostile attack and evacuate our wounded . Locating and appropriating an abandoned ambulance jeep , he repeatedly made extremely perilous trips under heavy rifle and mortar fire and single - handedly loaded and evacuated approximately forty - five casualties , working tirelessly and with utter disregard for his own safety during a grueling period of more than three hours . Despite intense , persistent enemy fire , he ran out to aid two men whom he believed to be wounded Marines but was himself mortally wounded by a Japanese sniper while carrying out his hazardous mission . PFC Agerholm ' s brilliant initiative , great personal valor and self - sacrificing efforts in the face of almost certain death reflect the highest credit upon himself and the U . S . Naval Service . He gallantly gave his life for his country . Posthumous honors . On June 20 , 1946 in Boston , Massachusetts , the new destroyer was commissioned and named in honor of PFC Agerholm . A middle school and an elementary school in his home town of Racine , Wisconsin also bear his name ( Jerstad - Agerholm ) . The Harold C . Agerholm Memorial Gun Park near the headquarters of the 10th Marine Regiment in Camp Lejeune , North Carolina is named in his honor .