Charles W. Hemenway’s Navy Cross citation

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the NAVY CROSS to

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS CHARLES WILLIAM HEMENWAY

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS (RESERVE)

for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Charles William Hemenway (364534), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps (Reserve), for extraordinary heroism and conspicuous devotion to duty while serving as a Rifleman in a Company of the Second Battalion, Seventh Marines, FIRST Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces at Cape Gloucester, New Britain, on 29 December 1943. Arming himself with a Thompson submachine gun in a volunteer search for a group of Japanese snipers who were continually harassing his company’s positions, Private First Class Hemenway, accompanied by another Marine, located the hostile snipers entrenched in the roots of a large banyan tree and immediately charged, firing relentlessly on the enemy position. When his comrade fell, seriously wounded by a volley from the snipers’ nest, Private First Class Hemenway, gallantly defying Japanese rifle fire, carried the injured Marine to a place of comparative safety at the rear. Returning with a bazooka gun, he voluntarily exposed himself to the enemy as he swept their position repeatedly and furiously with fire, scoring three direct hits on the target and annihilating the hostile rifleman. His cool courage, indomitable fighting spirit and gallant devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

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Born: 12 December 1921 in Milburn, N.J…. Passed: 20 April 2008… Interred: Saint Gertrude’s Cemetery in Colonia, N.J.