Korean War Veteran “Made of Steel” and Medal of Honor Recipient Dies at Age 89
Pretty amazing that U.S. Marine Corporal Duane Dewey was able to smother a grenade and survive the explosion. He had previously been wounded by another grenade when the second grenade land near him that he smothered:
Korean War veteran Duane Dewey, whom President Dwight Eisenhower described as “made of steel” when he presented the machine-gunner with the Medal of Honor in 1953, died Monday at age 89.
The Marine Corps corporal earned the medal for smothering an enemy grenade with his body and sheltering his squad members from the blast as they fought near Panmunjom on April 16, 1952.
Dewey spent several months in the hospital recuperating from the blast to his hip. His death in St. Augustine, Fla., was announced Tuesday by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
Stars & Stripes
You can read the rest at the link.
“Of whom the world was not worthy…”
CITATION:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Gunner in a Machine-Gun Platoon of Company E, Second Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division (Reinforced), in action against enemy aggressor forces near Panmunjom, Korea, on April 16, 1952. When an enemy grenade landed close to this position while he and his assistant gunner were receiving medical attention for their wounds during a fierce night attack by numerically superior hostile forces, Corporal DEWEY, although suffering intense pain, immediately pulled the corpsman to the ground and, shouting a warning to the other Marines around him, bravely smothered the deadly missile with his body, personally absorbing the full force of the explosion to save his comrades from possible injury or death. His indomitable courage, outstanding initiative and valiant efforts in behalf of others in the face of almost certain death reflect the highest credit upon Corporal DEWEY and enhance the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service.