This morning at Iroquois Park we honored 9 Congressional Medal of Honor recipients during our workout. Here are their stories:
USMC Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone
On Oct. 24, 1942, USMC Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone ran 200 yards through enemy fire to resupply Marine machine gun teams who were struggling to hold off an onslaught of advancing Japanese soldiers during the Battle of Guadalcanal. He made the heroic journey not once, but twice. Despite being awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions and earning a ticket home, he returned to the front lines, ultimately losing his life during the Battle for Iwo Jima.
SGT 1st Class Alwyn C. Cashe
Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn C. Cashe braved enemy fire to rescue 6 of his soldiers and an interpreter from a burning Bradley Fighting Vehicle after an IED strike in Iraq in 2005. Cashe returned again and again to the burning vehicle despite enduring 2nd and 3rd degree burns on 72% of his body. He refused medical attention until all his soldiers were tended to. “I’m good, I’m good, take care of my guys,” he said. Cashe later died of his wounds.
USN Gunner Jackson Charles Parris
Gunner Jackson Charles Pharris was aboard the USS California during Pearl Harbor. A Japenese torpedo scored a direct hit while he was below deck. The battleship’s lower compartments immediately began to fill with seawater and fuel oil. The ship’s electricity failed, plunging the interior into darkness. Pharris led men into the pitch black to rescue fellow sailors and attempt to save the ship. When she began to list to port, Pharris ordered shipfitters to begin counter-flooding. He passed out twice due to fumes from the fuel oil filling the ship. Despite losing consciousness, he came to and persisted in rescuing the lives of many of his shipmates who were trapped below in the darkness.
Green Beret MSG Roy Benavidez
On May 2, 1968, Green Beret Roy Benavidez rescued 8 men from a special forces team who were surrounded by North Vietnamese troops. He jumped to the ground from a Huey helicopter and ran into the ambush, retrieving both dead and wounded members of the team. He received 37 individual wounds, including one from a Vietnamese bayonet. After the battle, doctors believed him to be dead. As they zipped his body bag shut he spat in their faces to let them know he was still alive.
USAF Combat Controller John Chapman
USAF Combat Controller John Chapman charged enemy positions alone on a snowy mountain top during the Battle of Takur Ghar in March of 2022 in Afghanistan. Despite being wounded and left for dead by the Navy SEAL team with which he was embedded, he fought through the night, later exposing himself to fatal enemy fire in order to divert enemy attention away a rescue helicopter that was coming under fire.
Msgt. Nicholas Oresko
Msgt. Nicholas Oresko was a member of the U.S. Army’s 94th Infantry Division. On January 23, 1945, during the last days of the Battle of the Bulge, Oresko charged and knocked out a German machine gun bunker. Despite being seriously wounded in the hip and leg by machine gun fire, Master Sergeant Oresko crawled toward a second German bunker while under fire. He managed to get close enough to throw a grenade inside, silencing the gun emplacement.
Petty Officer Second Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor
Petty Officer Second Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor – a machine gunner with SEAL Team 3 – was on a rooftop fighting position during the battle of Ramadi, Iraq on Sept 29, 2006. An insurgent grenade landed in the middle of his team’s position. He immediately dove on the grenade, saving the lives of his fellow SEALS, and losing his in the process.
MSG Gary Gordon and SFC Randy Shughart
Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart were two Delta Force snipers who inserted themselves behind enemy lines to secure a Blackhawk crash site during the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in October 1993. Their actions saved the life of downed Blackhawk pilot Mike Durant. Both men fell to enemy fire after exhausting their own supplies of ammunition.
F3 Louisville remembers the heroism of these men. We seek to embody the same spirit of courage and sacrifice as we lead our families and community.
F3 Louisville 