Oorah

[RP#62]

Got this from my father in law.  Couldn't find anything about it on snopes, but other sites on the net seem to bear it out.

It Came Down to One Marine
by Vin Suprynowicz

On Nov. 15, 2003, an 85-year-old retired Marine Corps Colonel died of
congestive heart failure at his home in La Quinta, Calif., southeast of Palm
Springs.

He was a combat veteran of World War II. Reason enough to honor him. But
this Marine was a little different. This Marine was Mitchell Paige.

On Guadalcanal the Marines struggled to complete an airfield. Yamamoto knew
what that meant. No effort would be spared to dislodge these upstart Yanks
from a position that could endanger his ships. Before long, relentless
Japanese counterattacks had driven supporting U.S. Navy from inshore waters.
The Marines were on their own.

As Platoon Sgt. Mitchell Paige and his 33 riflemen set about carefully
emplacing their four water-cooled 30-caliber Brownings, manning their
section of the thin khaki line which was expected to defend Henderson Field
against the assault of the night of Oct. 25, 1942, it's unlikely anyone
thought they were about to provide the definitive answer to that most
desperate of questions: How many able-bodied U.S. Marines does it take to
hold a hill against 2,000 desperate and motivated attackers?

But by the time the night was over, "The 29th (Japanese) Infantry Regiment
has lost 553 killed or missing and 479 wounded among its 2,554 men,"
historian Lippman reports. "The 16th (Japanese) Regiment's losses are
uncounted, but the 164th's burial parties handled 975 Japanese bodies....
The American estimate of 2,200 Japanese dead is probably too low."

You've already figured out where the Japanese focused their attack,haven't
you? Among the 90 American dead and seriously wounded that night were all
the men in Mitchell Paige's platoon. Every one. As the night of endless
attacks wore on, Paige moved up and down his line, pulling his dead and
wounded comrades back into their foxholes and firing a few bursts from each
of the four Brownings in turn, convincing the Japanese forces down the hill
that the positions were still manned.

The citation for Paige's Medal of Honor picks up the tale: When the enemy
broke through the line directly in front of his position, Platoon Sgt.
Paige, commanding a machinegun section with fearless determination,
continued to direct the fire of his gunners until all his men were either
killed or wounded. Alone, against the deadly hail of Japanese shells, he
fought with his gun and when it was destroyed, took over another, moving
from gun to gun, never ceasing his withering fire."

In the end, Sgt. Paige picked up the last of the 40-pound, belt-fed
Brownings -- the same design which John Moses Browning famously fired for a
continuous 25 minutes until it ran out of ammunition, glowing cherry red, at
its first U. S. Army trial -- and did something for which the weapon was
never designed. Sgt. Paige walked down the hill toward the place where he
could hear the last Japanese survivors rallying to move around his flank,
the belt-fed gun cradled under his arm, firing as he went.

And the weapon did not fail.

Coming up at dawn, battalion executive officer Major Odell M. Conoley was
first to discover the answer to our question: How many able-bodied Marines
does it take to hold a hill against two regiments of motivated,
combat-hardened infantrymen who have never known defeat?

On a hill where the bodies were piled like cordwood, Mitchell Paige alone
sat upright behind his 30-caliber Browning, waiting to see what the dawn
would bring.

One hill: one Marine.

But "In the early morning light, the enemy could be seen a few yards off,
and vapor from the barrels of their machine guns was clearly
visible,"reports historian Lippman. "It was decided to try to rush the
position."

For the task, Major Conoley gathered together "three enlisted communication
personnel, several riflemen, a few company runners who were at the point,
together with a cook and a few messmen who had brought food to the position
the evening before."

Joined by Paige, this ad hoc force of 17 Marines counterattacked at 5:40
a.m.,

discovering that "the extremely short range allowed the optimum use of
grenades." They cleared the ridge.

And that's where the unstoppable wave of Japanese conquest finally crested,
broke, and began to recede. On an unnamed jungle ridge on an insignificant
island no one had ever heard of, called Guadalcanal.

But who remembers, today, how close-run a thing it was -- the ridge held by
a single Marine, in the autumn of 1942?

When the Hasbro Toy Co. called some years back, asking permission to put the
retired colonel's face on some kid's doll, Mitchell Paige thought they must
be joking.

But they weren't. That's his mug, on the little Marine they call "G.I. Joe."

And now you know........

 

[Jess from VA]

OOrah, indeed!

Medal of Honor citation

    For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry in action above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the Second Battalion, Seventh Marines, First Marine Division, in combat against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands Area on October 26, 1942. When the enemy broke through the line directly in front of his position, Platoon Sergeant Paige, commanding a machine-gun section with fearless determination, continued to direct the fire of his gunners until all his men were either killed or wounded. Alone, against the deadly hail of Japanese shells, he manned his gun, and when it was destroyed, took over another, moving from gun to gun, never ceasing his withering fire against the advancing hordes until reinforcements finally arrived. Then, forming a new line, he dauntlessly and aggressively led a bayonet charge, driving the enemy back and preventing a break through in our lines. His great personal valor and unyielding devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.[6]

/S/ FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

Paige retired in 1959 with the rank of Colonel. In retirement, Paige wrote a book about his experiences titled A Marine Named Mitch (published in 1975)

[KSDragonRider]

That is an amazing tale of yet another amazing US service man.  I just forwarded this to some of my friends in the service.

Thank you for sharing
Dalen

[donaldcc]

 
  My dad was a Marine rifleman at Guadalcanal and about 1/2 the people he was there with were killed or wounded.  From there he was sent to the Battle of Okinawa where there were also heavy casualties.

  He never talked about it and my siblings and I only found out after he died 20 years ago of cancer.  My sister was executor and found hidden away in boxes medals and commendations we never knew anything about.  He was a quiet guy and had two brothers killed in WW2 also.

[old2soon]

Thats the thing with true heroes-they rarely if ever talk about such things. I met and became friends with a gentlemen down here that was a bazooka man in WWII in Germany. He finally told me a sanitized version of a small portion of his exploits. A year later he was dead. And seeing his ribbons on his casket-i knew we were burying a hero. Sounds to me like Colnel Mitchell Paige was also a hero. And we are fast burying the last of a rare breed-WWII vets. His story/exploits are the stuff legends are made of. Semper Fi and R I P Marine Colnel Mitchell Paige.

[Jess from VA]

In 2007, VA estimated about 1,000 WWII vets were dying.... every day.  

Numbers go down every year now.

[Fudd]

Back in the day, I had a G I Joe made in his likeness.

I must have blown him up a zillion times with fire crackers and shot him with BB's to watch him fall from his "snipers positions" up in trees.

Had I known what he had already gone through, I might would have gone easier on him.

Marines are a special breed.

[The Anvil]

Thats the thing with true heroes-they rarely if ever talk about such things.

Makes sense. A big part of what makes a true "hero" (a term that I think is overused in day to day life) is selflessness. Well it stands to reason that a selfless person would not seek attention for their heroic acts. To true heroes an act of heroism is just something you do.

[POPS 57]

I work at the V.A. and the new stat is around 1300 a day now. But there aren't many left and that number is going to go down fast as time rolls on. When i started at the V.A. 38 years 9 months 27 days ago there were still Spanish war vets alive. Then they were all gone then WWI were gone. Next will be the Korean. Well you get the picture. The hardest part is seeing these young kids and yes i mean kids come in. You will see the damage and a young wife walking behind them. She is there to help him learn to kind of walk. My kids are older then the ones comming in for help. We can't do enought for them and it's sad. 

[Skinhead]

Yet our congressman, who for the most part, never served, have benefits out the ass.  Just doesn't seem right.  Vote accordingly.

[texaninsouthfl]

Hello all,

I'm pretty new to the forum as I began my love affair with my very own Fat Lady about six weeks ago.

The FIRST thing I did when I arrived home with her was join Patriot Guard Riders. For those of you who may me unfamiliar with PGR, it's a nationwide organization of patriotic riders who honor our fallen heroes at funerals, welcome home rides, and other opportunities to stand for those who stood for us.

Some of you may recognize PGR as the group of riders who made the news when on several occasions they have shielded the families of fallen soldiers from the Westboro Baptist Church wackos who protest at the funerals.

The denizens of VRCC forums seem to be a patriotic lot, so if you haven't already, I heartily encourage you to join this great group of riders. Here's the link.

www.patriotguard.org

Safe riding to you all and hope to meet many of you at the InZane 2012.

Tex

[musclehead]

Hello all,

I'm pretty new to the forum as I began my love affair with my very own Fat Lady about six weeks ago.

The FIRST thing I did when I arrived home with her was join Patriot Guard Riders. For those of you who may me unfamiliar with PGR, it's a nationwide organization of patriotic riders who honor our fallen heroes at funerals, welcome home rides, and other opportunities to stand for those who stood for us.

Some of you may recognize PGR as the group of riders who made the news when on several occasions they have shielded the families of fallen soldiers from the Westboro Baptist Church wackos who protest at the funerals.

The denizens of VRCC forums seem to be a patriotic lot, so if you haven't already, I heartily encourage you to join this great group of riders. Here's the link.

www.patriotguard.org

Safe riding to you all and hope to meet many of you at the InZane 2012.

Tex

good on ya bro, most here know the PGR and many are members officially and unofficially. I rode one or two myself. we try not to give the phelps gang any more press. my Christmas wish is they fade into the obscurity they deserve.

[musclehead]

3458 recipients only 85 living  19 double recipients 

the official medal of honor site...... all listed here, great and inspring stories.

http://www.cmohs.org/

[Rowdy]

OOrah 
Plan to share this story with my fellow Leathernecks 

[old2soon]

3458 recipients only 85 living  19 double recipients 

the official medal of honor site...... all listed here, great and inspring stories.

http://www.cmohs.org/

  The U S S Yorktown C V S 10 the very ship i served on is tied up in Charelston S.C. as a museum. If you are not aware of it that proud ship has a Medal of Honor wall on it. It also documents the WWII carrier campaign in the Pacific among other things. A lot of very interesting static displays also. What ever it cost to get in was well worth every nickel. RIDE SAFE.

[98valk]

The origin of OO-RAH and the top 10 list of possible meanings of

http://www.oo-rah.com/store/editorial/edi55.asp

and some other great stories

http://www.oo-rah.com/store/gen/seastories.asp

[musclehead]

I don't think you need to snpoes it, here's the page from the CMOHS.

the story from the website matches the story from your post!  one brave dude!
a lot of the stories I've read about MOH winners, they weren't cool calm and collected at the time the did the deed that earned the honor. most of them were mad as h$LL and itching to return fire.

http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/2935/paige-mitchell.php

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

3458 recipients only 85 living  19 double recipients 

the official medal of honor site...... all listed here, great and inspring stories.

http://www.cmohs.org/

  The U S S Yorktown C V S 10 the very ship i served on is tied up in Charelston S.C. as a museum. If you are not aware of it that proud ship has a Medal of Honor wall on it. It also documents the WWII carrier campaign in the Pacific among other things. A lot of very interesting static displays also. What ever it cost to get in was well worth every nickel. RIDE SAFE.

When we rode down to check it out they was claimin' that if they did'nt get some more money for maintence it would be taking on water in a few more years 

[Rowdy]

Oorah   
U know - the only time I herd Oorah while I was an active Marine was from the recon company nearby - I don't recall it being used in boot camp in 67 of course I was bombarded with a lot new expressions and terms    so I may have missed it 

I have herd Oorah  more in the last 10 years as stated when Marines meet 

My thought it might have been a recon term and has been adopted accross the corps 

[98valk]

Oorah   
U know - the only time I herd Oorah while I was an active Marine was from the recon company nearby - I don't recall it being used in boot camp in 67 of course I was bombarded with a lot new expressions and terms    so I may have missed it 

I have herd Oorah  more in the last 10 years as stated when Marines meet 

My thought it might have been a recon term and has been adopted accross the corps 

partial from the link I provided,

Marines and historians have determined the true origins of "Oorah" lie with recon Marines stationed in Korea in 1953. During this time, reconnaissance Marines in the 1st Amphibious Reconnaissance Co., found themselves traveling via submarine to where they were needed. The memorable call of "dive, dive!" would be called on the intercom and a klaxon alarm, which made a very distinct "Aarugha" sound, would announce the descent of the sub below water.

The recon Marines, who heard this sound often, started using it as a motivational tool during runs and physical training............