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Korean War Medal of Honor Recipient Hospital Corpsman Third Class William R. Charette, United States Navy
CITATION:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action against enemy aggressor forces during the early morning hours. Participating in a fierce encounter with a cleverly concealed and well-entrenched enemy force occupying positions on a vital and bitterly contested outpost far in advance of the main line of resistance, HC3c. Charette repeatedly and unhesitatingly moved about through a murderous barrage of hostile small-arms and mortar fire to render assistance to his wounded comrades. When an enemy grenade landed within a few feet of a marine he was attending, he immediately threw himself upon the stricken man and absorbed the entire concussion of the deadly missile with his body. Although sustaining painful facial wounds, and undergoing shock from the intensity of the blast which ripped the helmet and medical aid kit from his person, HC3c. Charette resourcefully improvised emergency bandages by tearing off part of his clothing, and gallantly continued to administer medical aid to the wounded in his own unit and to those in adjacent platoon areas as well. Observing a seriously wounded comrade whose armored vest had been torn from his body by the blast from an exploding shell, he selflessly removed his own battle vest and placed it upon the helpless man although fully aware of the added jeopardy to himself. Moving to the side of another casualty who was suffering excruciating pain from a serious leg wound, HC3c. Charette stood upright in the trench line and exposed himself to a deadly hail of enemy fire in order to lend more effective aid to the victim and to alleviate his anguish while being removed to a position of safety. By his indomitable courage and inspiring efforts in behalf of his wounded comrades, HC3c. Charette was directly responsible for saving many lives. His great personal valor reflects the highest credit upon himself and enhances the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
Two Hills, One Nightmare
by Lane Phalen
In separate actions, two GIs emerge as uncommon heroes in a common hell
Saving Lives Under Fire
The irony was not lost on Navy Corpsman William R. Charette. Having read about the near-cataclysmic events at the Chosin Reservoir in 1950, he found himself, surprisingly, assigned three years later to the same company that had fought there. Most of the men had rotated out of Korea by January 1953, when Charette joined F Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. Now near Panmunjon, the company was located close to the site of the stalled peace talks.
Peace, though, wasnt reigning anywhere near the three hills dubbed Reno, Carson and Vegas. One clear and freezing morning, Charette heard what he thought was thunder but, in reality, the roar was actually thousands of Chinese soldiersattacking the 5th Marines that held the hills. In time, the hills fell, and, on March 27, Charettes company was called to take part in a three-battalion assault on Vegas to recapture it.
The intensity of the fighting was unmistakable as Charette saw men entangled in the barbed wire where they had died. Immediately, he began treating the wounded as his company moved ahead. Life soon became chaos for the young man as the cries for corpsman came from everywhere. Disregarding his own safety amid a hail of small-arms and mortar fire, Charette answered them as best he could throughout the day and into the night, literally losing all sense of time. He later recalled, The Chinese above us were rolling grenades downhill onto us. There were so many going off there was no way to count them. It was just a constant roar.
Answering one of the calls for help, Charette came upon a marine in the point squad with severe wounds. A grenade landed near the corpsman and his patient. I couldnt see it in the dark. I knew it was there, and it was going to go off, he said, describing how he used his medical bag to try to push the grenade away.
Knowing his patient couldnt survive more wounds, the Ludington, Mich., native shielded the man with his own body. The blast, which blew Charettes helmet off and knocked him unconscious with wounds to the face, had also left him temporarily blind and deaf. When his sight returned, he saw he was the least wounded of the five men around him. The man Charette had shielded was also alivethanks to the medical bag taking the brunt of the blow.
Earlier Charette had given his coat to a wounded man, and now his medical supplies were nearly gone. Even so, he improvised, ripping his own clothes apart to make bandages and tourniquets, and pulled flak jackets from dead marines to cover their wounded comrades who were drawn to him like a magnet. Near dawn on March 28, the lead company was ordered to pull back.
Under cover of darkness, Charette and other marines began evacuating the wounded from Vegas. When they came to a trench that had been torn up by an explosion, he didnt hesitate to stand and carry a severely wounded marine to safetyan action he repeated over and over until the men were safe. I could hear the bullets zipping by my head, but I had no choice. Charette said, I couldnt leave the guy there.
Casualties were heavy for both sides in the battle for Vegas, with the Chinese sustaining more than thirteen hundred and the Marines; 118 dead, 801 wounded and 98 missing in action.
Nine months after the armistice, Charette was still in Korea, working in a postwar MASH unit when the chief surgeon gave him the news that he was to receive the Medal of Honor. Like many who have received the award, Charette protested that he did not deserve it. Home he went nonetheless. After spending Christmas with his family in Michigan, he traveled to the White House for the presentation on Jan. 12, 1954.
After receiving the Medal of Honor, Charette finished out his days of service training new corpsmen at Great Lakes, where he met his wife, Louise, who was in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). After 90 days as a married civilian with a pregnant wife, Charette opted to make a career out of the Navy. He signed up for submarine school where, he said, I found a home.
In 1958, he was honored to select the remains of what would become the Unknown Soldier of World War II. This was a tremendous honor for me, Charette said. My grandchildren and their grandchildren will be able to visit the Tomb of the Unknowns and realize I had a small role in this national monument.
After serving during Vietnam and the Cold War, Charette retired in 1977. When a local newspaper honored veterans from WWI, WWII and Vietnam , Charette was shocked that Korean veterans werent included. I dont understand that, because 54,000 Americans lost their lives in Korea.
Charette, like the Marine corpman pictured here, was Doc to the men he treated under fire in the fierce March 1953 battle.
Photo by Sgt. Frank C. Kerr, courtesy of Leatherneck Magazine
Heroics in the Trench Line
Three outpostsTom, Dick and Harryprotected the 3rd Infantry Divisions main position. On Harry, two platoons from the division prepared to withdraw. Not a day went by while we were on Harry that we didnt lose a couple of guys to enemy artillery, recalled Ola Mize , who was serving as assistant platoon leader at the time with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry.
On the evening of June 10, 1953, Mize and four men had just returned to their positions after reconnoitering routes for the withdrawal the next day. A short time later, Chinese artillery fire began falling like hail on the finger-shaped hill. Huddled in their bunkers, the GIs dared not move during the thunderous barrage.
Mizewho requested a transfer to Korea after a two-year hitch with the 82nd Airbornehad been with the company only a few months. During that time, he had witnessed dozens of Chinese trucks unloading men and equipment less than 3,000 yards away. But his requests for artillery fire went unheeded, because no one believed him.
Learning of a wounded GI 150 yards downslope, Mize and a volunteer medic made their way to the man, returning him to safety. Enemy infantry had joined the attack. Mize gunned down several Chinese soldiers who were jumping into the American trenches as he made his way to the second platoon.
Along the way, he found a bunker almost completely collapsed from enemy shelling, where a few survivors were half-buried in dirt, wood and rocks. Mize pulled several men clear, then discovered that his weapon was the only one working. The others were clogged with dirt.
He posted himself in the shadows of the bunker door as more of the enemy began pouring into the trench. I thought Id bought the farm, Mize recalled. I just knew I was going to die. I knew it. I accepted it. All I wanted to do was take as many of them with me as I could.
Mize threw a grenade down the trench, but the enemy persisted in their charge. Mize put his carbine on full automatic and began spraying the advancing Chinese. Pvt. Allan England and Cpl. James Kelly loaded magazines and passed them to Mize.
At one point, a group of enemy soldiers charged, and Mize opened fire. From the hand of one of them rolled a grenade. The blast blew Mize back into the bunker. Stunned, he groped for his carbine in the darkness, found it and returned to his post.
The barrage continued, and several of the rounds exploded near Mize, completely lifting him out of the trench. His helmet was gone, and his flak jacket was smoldering. Each time a blast hit, Mize suffered repeated wounds and concussions, but somehow he made it back to his position.
This lasted for more than two hours, when England told him they were running low on ammo. Mize waved the two GIs away from their post. As they left, the young private couldnt help but to notice the pile of enemy bodies stacked up in the trench. Later, 47 dead Chinese were counted in that spot.
When the little group of men led by Mize came upon the platoons main bunker, they found only dead men, friendly and enemy. They did uncover some working weapons and ammunition, though, and even a radio. The group built a makeshift barrier, and Mize called for artillery fire.
Lay it on me, he shouted. Right on top of us! When the man refused because there were GIs there, Mize yelled, Not many. Theres a lot more of them than there is of us. Fire away!
Within minutes, friendly fire broke over the hill. Mize deeply regretted that some Americans were killed, but it couldnt be helped. His radio was damaged, and a sergeant trying to reach him told his lieutenant, Everyone on Harry is dead. Only Chinese left up there now. But it wasnt true. Indestructible Ola Mize and about 15 others fought on. Mize moved among the men, encouraging them and urging them to keep up the fight.
By two the next morning, the enemy attack had slackened, and Mize ordered his men to withdraw. As they carefully moved down the hill, they heard voicesChinese voices. The GIs had stumbled on a group of some 30 unsuspecting enemy. It was hell, Mize said. Im trying to shoot all these Chinese, and I keep stepping on this guy laying between my feet. I was afraid Id fall down and theyd get us. Finally, I yanked him to his feet and we got out of there.
The two returned to the platoon bunker, where they continued to fight off periodic enemy assaults. At dawn, the Chinese began pulling back from Harry, prompting Mize to once more move his men out. At 8 a.m., a friendly relief company arrived and swept over the hill. The scene was one of mass destruction. Not a bunker remained intact and most of the trench line had collapsed. Dead soldiers littered the landscape. Of the 40 Americans on Harry at the start of the battle, twelve survived.
Mize refused to leave Korea and Company K until, after a year, he was ordered back to the United States to receive the Medal of Honor. The ceremony took place in Denver at the summer White House on Sept. 7, 1954.
Third Infantry Division troops engage Chinese forces near the village of Uijong-Bu in 1951. Some two years later, they and Mize would be in the fight of their lives near Surang-ni.Courtesy U.S. Army
Medal of Honor recipient to speak at Marine Corps birthday ball
By Dorine Goss
Just 137 men who have received the Medal of Honor are living today. Twenty of those 137 received the medal for valor in combat in Korea. And one of those men is coming to Prescott to speak Nov. 8 at the Marine Corps League birthday ball.
Medal of Honor winner William Charette will visit Prescott to attend the 228th Marine Corps League birthday celebration.
 Navy corpsman William Charette was 22 in 1954 when he received a Medal of Honor for valor in combat in Korea from President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Courtesy photo
Charette, a Navy corpsman attached to the 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division in Korea, received our countrys highest military award from President Dwight D. Eisenhower on Jan. 12, 1954, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action against enemy aggressor forces.
His Medal of Honor certificate continues with a specific description of his actions in the early morning hours of March 27, 1953, in the Panmunjom Corridor of the demilitarized zone in Korea.
Participating in a fierce encounter with a cleverly concealed and well-entrenched enemy force occupying positions of a vital and bitterly contested outpost far in advance of the main resistance, Hospital Corpsman Third Class Charette repeatedly and unhesitatingly moved about through a murderous barrage of hostile small-arms and mortar fire to render assistance to his wounded comrades.
When an enemy grenade landed within a few feet of a Marine he was attending, he immediately threw himself upon the stricken man and absorbed the entire concussion of the deadly missile with his body. Although sustaining painful facial wounds, and undergoing shock from the intensity of the blast which ripped the helmet and medical aid kit from his person, Hospital Corpsman Third Class Charette resourcefully improvised emergency bandages by tearing off part of his clothing, and gallantly continued to administer medical aid to the wounded in his own unit and to those in adjacent platoon areas as well.
Observing a seriously wounded comrade whose armored vest had been torn from his body by the blast from an exploding shell, he selflessly removed his own battle vest and placed it upon the helpless man although fully aware of the added jeopardy to himself. Moving to the side of another casualty who was suffering excruciating pain from a serious leg wound, Hospital Corpsman Third Class Charette stood upright in the trench line and exposed himself to a deadly hail of enemy fire in order to lend more effective aid to the victim and to alleviate his anguish while being removed to a position of safety.
Charettes Medal of Honor certificate testifies that he was directly responsible for saving many lives of the Marines serving in the rifle company to which he was attached.
The 21-year-old corpsman was one of only five hospital corpsmen who earned Americas highest award for military valor in Korea. And he was the only one who lived to have Eisenhower hang the Medal of Honor around his neck.
 After his service in Korea, Charette proudly made the final selection of the World War II Unknown Soldier, now buried in the Tomb of the Unknown at Arlington National Cemetery. The Medal of Honor winner retired from the Navy in 1977 after 26 years of service.
Now the 71-year-old Charette is coming to Prescott to attend the Nov. 8 Marine Corps birthday ball because his brother-in-law, Stewart Fraiser of Dewey, invited him to the annual event. Charette married Louise Fraiser, Stewarts sister, in November 1954. The Dewey man is commandant of the local Copper State Detachment of the league.
Mike Andrichak, junior vice commandant and one of about 80 members of the league, said Navy corpsmen usually were more than Marines.
He said Navy corpsmen train with the Marines and are qualified to do minor surgery in the field such as removing pieces of shrapnel.
He remembers a corpsman who was serving with his company in Chu Lai, Vietnam, in 1965. The corpsman was treating a Marine who had been hit in his cartridge belt with an infusion of blood expander. Incoming fire hit another Marine and the corpsman threw himself over the already-downed Marine to protect him from additional fire.
Thats just what they do, Andrichak said.
Marine Corps League members celebrate the Nov. 10 birthday of the Marines annually with a ball that includes a happy hour, dinner and dancing to live Big Band music. Festivities will begin at 5 p.m. at the Quality Inn on Highway 69. Call Carl Noyes at 759-2656 for more information. Tickets are $40 per person and guests are welcome.
Contact the reporter at dgoss@prescottaz.com
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