Sergeant John Basilone showed great heroism during his service in WWII. During the Campaign of Guadalcanal (August 1942-February 1943), he and his handful of men were responsible for holding back a Japanese assault on October 24-25, 1942. Throughout this engagement, he personally repaired and manned multiple machine guns. When his small detachment ran low, Basilone fought his way through the Japanese lines to resupply critically-needed ammunition. The Americans eventually won this long campaign. As a result of his actions, Basilone was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Later in the war at the Battle of Iwo Jima (February 19-March 26, 1945), Basilone came ashore with the first wave of Marines. Shortly after landing, his unit was trapped by machine guns from Japanese blockhouses. Basilone worked his way around one of these blockhouses and single-handedly destroyed it. As he was making his way towards an airfield, he came across an American tank trapped in a minefield. While under fire, he guided the tank out of the minefield and to safety. He was later killed by flying shrapnel. Basilone was awarded the Navy Cross for his courageous actions during the battle.

Below is a June 24, 1944 Collier’s magazine cover with a picture of Sergeant Basilone as well as a brief note by him.