John Basilone
American Medal of Honor recipient (1916–1945)
John Basilone · 約翰·巴西隆 · ジョン・バジロン · 존 바실론
- Born
- 4 November 1916, Buffalo
- Died
- 19 February 1945, Iwo Jima
- Citizenship
- United States
- Sport
- boxing
- Occupation
- boxer, military personnel
John Basilone (November 4, 1916 – February 19, 1945) was a United States Marine Corps gunnery sergeant who received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle for Henderson Field in the Guadalcanal campaign, and the Navy Cross posthumously for extraordinary heroism during the Battle of Iwo Jima. He was the only enlisted Marine to receive both of these decorations in World War II.
Basilone enlisted in the Marine Corps on June 3, 1940, after serving three years in the United States Army with duty in the Philippines. He was deployed to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and in August 1942, he took part in the invasion of Guadalcanal. In October, he and the two machine-gun sections under his command held off an attack by a numerically far superior Japanese force. He was one of only three marines in that group to survive. His actions at Guadalcanal earned him the Medal of Honor. This led to him being called home for a war bond tour, which made him nationally famous.
Awards and honours
- Medal of Honor 1942
- Presidential Unit Citation 1942
- Purple Heart 1942
- Navy Cross 1945
- New Jersey Hall of Fame 2011
- American Campaign Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
- Good Conduct Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q366725 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.