"He was a rifleman when his platoon spearheaded an attack on Hen Hill, the tactical position on which the entire Naha-Shuri-Yonaburu line of Japanese defense on Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, was hinged. For 12 days our forces had been stalled, and repeated, heavy assaults by 1 battalion
and then another had been thrown back by the enemy with serious
casualties. With 5 comrades, Pfc. Craft was dispatched in advance of
Company G to feel out the enemy resistance. The group had proceeded only
a short distance up the slope when rifle and machine gun fire, coupled
with a terrific barrage of grenades, wounded 3 and pinned down the
others. Against odds that appeared suicidal, Pfc. Craft launched a
remarkable 1-man attack. He stood up in full view of the enemy and began
shooting with deadly marksmanship wherever he saw a hostile movement.
He steadily advanced up the hill, killing Japanese soldiers with rapid
fire, driving others to cover in their strongly disposed trenches,
unhesitatingly facing alone the strength that had previously beaten back
attacks in battalion strength. He reached the crest of the hill, where
he stood silhouetted against the sky while quickly throwing grenades at
extremely short range into the enemy positions. His extraordinary
assault lifted the pressure from his company for the moment, allowing
members of his platoon to comply with his motions to advance and pass
him more grenades. With a chain of his comrades supplying him while he
stood atop the hill, he furiously hurled a total of 2 cases of grenades
into a main trench and other positions on the reverse slope of Hen Hill,
meanwhile directing the aim of his fellow soldiers who threw grenades
from the slope below him. He left his position, where grenades from both
sides were passing over his head and bursting on either slope, to
attack the main enemy trench as confusion and panic seized the
defenders. Straddling the excavation, he pumped rifle fire into the
Japanese at pointblank range, killing many and causing the others to
flee down the trench. Pursuing them, he came upon a heavy machine gun
which was still creating havoc in the American ranks. With rifle fire
and a grenade he wiped out this position. By this time the Japanese were
in complete rout and American forces were swarming over the hill. Pfc.
Craft continued down the central trench to the mouth of a cave where
many of the enemy had taken cover. A satchel charge
was brought to him, and he tossed it into the cave. It failed to
explode. With great daring, the intrepid fighter retrieved the charge
from the cave, relighted the fuse and threw it back, sealing up the Japs
in a tomb. In the local action, against tremendously superior forces
heavily armed with rifles, machine guns, mortars, and grenades, Pfc.
Craft killed at least 25 of the enemy; but his contribution to the
campaign on Okinawa was of much more far-reaching consequence for Hen
Hill was the key to the entire defense line, which rapidly crumbled
after his utterly fearless and heroic attack."
From Pfc. Craft's Medal of Honor citation, awarded on November 1, 1945.
A true ass-kicker in ever way! May you be at peace,
Brian
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