World War II Honoree

Edward Henry Ahrens

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Dayton, Kentucky

Honored By

John Peterson

Assigned to Company 'A', 1st Raider Battalion, Fleet Marine Force. soon thereafter, he landed with that unit from USS Little (APD-4) at Tulagi, Guadalcanal, British Solomon Islands, in the second assault wave on August 7, 1942. With Company 'C', 1st Raider Battalion, securing the right flank on the beachhead, Company 'A' moved inland and down the right slope of Tulagi's central ridge. Initially, the Marines were not opposed. That evening, Company 'A' took positions for the night west of a cricket ground on the island, as part of the defensive line extending along the ridge. The Japanese later launched a fierce nocturnal counterattack which drove a wedge between the two Raider companies. Isolating the latter near the beachhead, the enemy concentrated their efforts on Company 'A' in an attempt to sweep up the ridge toward the residency, a former British government building serving as a Raider battalion command post. The Raiders, however, stood firm. During the savage battle that ensued, he, in a security detachment assigned the task of protecting the Raiders' right flank, singlehandedly engaged a group of Japanese in hand-to-hand combat as they attempted to infiltrate the Raiders' rear. He killed at least thirteen Japanese (including the attacking unit's senior officer) and aided materially in stopping their infiltration before being mortally wounded. For his part in stopping the enemy, he was posthumously awarded a Navy Cross, as well as the Presidential Unit Citation earned by the 1st Marine Division.