World War II Honoree

Harold Christ Agerholm

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Racine, Wisconsin

Honored By

John Peterson

he 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 to New Zealand, where he trained with his battalion in Wellington for eleven months. In January 1943, he was promoted to private first class and apppointed the battery store room keeper. He took part in the fighting on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, in November 1943. After the end of hostilities on Tarawa, he went with the 2nd Marine Division to the Hawaiian Islands, where they trained for the forthcoming invasion of Saipan. he landed on Saipan June 9, 1944, three days after the D-Day invasion in Europe. 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. he 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 his actions on Saipan, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. He also received the Purple Heart Medal (posthumously), the Presidential Unit Citation, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze stars and the WWII Victory Medal.