World War II Honoree

Henry 'Hank' T. Elrod

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Coronado, California

Honored By

Bruce Lamberto

ASSIGNED TO VMF-211, A MARINE FIGHTER SQUADRON FLYING F4-F WILDCATS BASED AT WAKE ISLAND. WAKE WAS BOMBED ON DECEMBER 8, 1941 AT THE SAME TIME PEARL HARBOR WAS ATTACKED. EIGHT OUT OF TWELVE OF THE FIGHTERS WERE DESTROYED ON THE GROUND BY JAPANESE BOMBERS. HE FLEW NUMEROUS SORTIES OVER THE ENSUING 15 DAYS IN WHICH HE WAS CREDITED WITH SHOOTING DOWN SEVERAL JAPANESE AIRCRAFT AND SINKING A JAPANESE DESTROYER. AFTER THE REMAINING FOUR FIGHTERS WERE DESTROYED, HE FOUGHT AS AN INFANTRYMAN WHEN WAKE WAS ATTACKED BY JAPANESE NAVAL LANDING FORCES. WHILE VASTLY OUTNUMBERED HE COURAGEOUSLY FOUGHT BACK AT POINT BLANK RANGE WITH THE ENEMY. SHOT THROUGH THE HEAD BY A JAPANESE SNIPER, HIS LIFE ENDED ON DECEMBER 23, 1941. POSTHUMOUSLY AWARDED THE MEDAL OF HONOR AND PURPLE HEART. AN AMERICAN DESTROYER, THE USS ELROD BEARS HIS NAME.