Private First Class Leonard Foster Mason KIA MOH

 

Private First Class Leonard Foster Mason KIA USMC. He was born on February 22, 1920 in Middlesboro, Kentucky, the son of Hillery Mason and Mollie Rachel Partin. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in April 1943, at the age of 23. He was promoted to PFC in March 1944. He served in 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division. On July 22, 1944 he earned the Medal of Honor. “On the Asan-Adelup Beachhead, Guam, Marianas Islands. Suddenly taken under fire by 2 enemy machine guns not more than 15 yards away while clearing out hostile positions holding up the advance of his platoon through a narrow gully, Pfc. Mason, alone and entirely on his own initiative, climbed out of the gully and moved parallel to it toward the rear of the enemy position. Although fired upon immediately by hostile riflemen from a higher position and wounded repeatedly in the arm and shoulder, Pfc. Mason grimly pressed forward and had just reached his objective when hit again by a burst of enemy machinegun fire, causing a critical wound to which he later succumbed. With valiant disregard for his own peril, he persevered, clearing out the hostile position, killing 5 Japanese, wounding another and then rejoining his platoon to report the results of his action before consenting to be evacuated. His exceptionally heroic act in the face of almost certain death enabled his platoon to accomplish its mission.” He died at the age of 24. He was awarded the Medal of Honor,  the Purple Heart Medal (PHM), The Combat Action Ribbon, The Presidential Unit Citation, the Good Conduct Medal,  American Theater of operations medal, The Asiatic Pacific Theater of operations medal with 2 battle stars, World War Two Victory Medal, Rifle Sharpshooter badge, and Pistol Expert Badge. In 1946, the destroyer USS Leonard F. Mason (DD-852) was named after him.