Date of birth:

July 30th, 1919 (South Bethlehem/Pennsylvania, United States)

Date of death:

January 11th, 2004 (Passaic/New Jersey, United States)

Service number:

274144

Nationality:

American

Private First Class Edmund J. D'Orsogna, USMC, Service No. 274144, received the Navy Cross for action at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands area on 24-25 October 1942. This was confirmed by his mention in the book "Heroes-U.S. Marine Corps 1861-1955, Armed Forces Awards & Flags" by Jane Blakeney.

Edmund was suffering from malaria and was in the infirmary waiting to be evacuated back to the United States for treatment when his area came under Japanese attack. He was told to get a weapon and return to the field. He and another private were in a machine gun nest that was under heavy attack. While under very heavy fire from the Japanese, his machine gun jammed four different times. Each time he was able to repair the machine gun and continued to kill over 200 of the advancing Japanese. He was later evacuated to the U.S. where he recovered from the malaria. While stationed in Newport R.I., he was told he would not be returning overseas so he and his finance got married. Shortly after the marriage he was sent back to the Pacific to participate in the landing at Iwo Jima. Having survived Iwo Jima, he took part in the Battle of Okinawa where he took a round through the top of his helmet but was otherwise not hurt.

The following article was written by Edmond's nephew, Guido Colamarino:

"Marine Earned Navy Cross despite Faulty Machine Gun" By Guido Colamarino - Special to the Times Posted : October 08, 2007

Pfc. Edmund D’Orsogna huddled in the jungles of Guadalcanal in a 4-foot-deep foxhole with three other young Marines and a defective machine gun. He and his unit were charged that October 1942 with defending Henderson Airfield against the Japanese. With no air support, little food or medical supplies and antiquated weapons, the Marines appeared doomed.

But there would be no surrender, according to Maj. Gen. Alexander Vandegrift, commander of 1st Marine Division. If all failed, the future Medal of Honor recipient and commandant said, they would "head for the hills and fight on as guerillas."

D’Orsogna, then 24, hid among the shoulder-high, spiky grass of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. The terrain, with its almost impenetrable screens of twisted vines, gave the advantage to the enemy.

"It was scary," D’Orsogna said at his home in Clifton, N.J., in 1996. "There were four gun units, each with four men. Ours was number three. The guys in number four ran away, leaving our right flank open." To compensate, they lugged their machine gun and its tripod — 90 pounds of weaponry — out of the foxhole onto higher ground, for better visibility.

"Jack [Sugarman] thought he saw several crouched figures approaching," he said, recalling his fellow Marines. "The other guys [Cpl. Herman Bright and Pfc. William Conner] and I saw them, too." Afraid they might be Marines, he told Sugarman to fire one shot over their heads and duck. "Lucky for him he did, because [the Japanese] returned his shot with a barrage of rifle fire that would’ve got him sure if he were standing." "Then, all hell broke loose," he said, pursing his lips. "They kept coming all night with bombs … flares … everything. Men were getting shot, blown apart, all over the place. In the morning, reinforcements finally arrived, allowing us to rest. Other than the machine gun jamming a few times, we held our own." "I was told that we killed 165 enemy soldiers," he said. "They even pinned a medal on me and called me a national hero. Even after 50 years, it still seems unreal."

For repairing the defective machine gun on four occasions under heavy fire, D’Orsogna was one of 946 Marines in World War II awarded the Navy Cross, the nation’s second-highest honor for heroism in battle.

D’Orsogna died in his home state of New Jersey in 2004 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Private First Class (Marine)

Unit:

Company D, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division "The Old Breed", U.S. Marine Corps

Awarded on:

April 2nd, 1943

"For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous devotion to duty while serving with Company D, First Battalion, Seventh Marines, FIRST Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands Area on the night of October 24 - 25, 1942. During a mass frontal attack by a numerically superior enemy force, Private First Class Dorsogna, with his gun temporarily out of action and his position threatened by hostile troops, removed the weapon and, with the aid of a comrade, repaired and placed it back in action under heavy fire. On four separate occasions he saved the gun from capture, repaired it under fire and continued to maintain effective resistance against masses of attacking Japanese. By his skill and determination, he inflicted heavy casualties upon the enemy and helped prevent a break-through in our line which, at that time was weakly held by a small group of riflemen. His actions at all times were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."

SPOT AWARD: Serial 00192

• - Recipients of The Navy Cross, 1916 - Present, by C. Douglas Sterner
  - Edmund Dorsogna - Recipient -
  - Joseph R. Egan