RAIDERS Gurke, Henry

John Robertson

Administrator
Staff member
  • SURNAME
Gurke
  • FORENAME
Henry
  • UNIT
3 Raider Bn (Company D)
  • RANK
Private First Class
  • NUMBER
380428
  • DATE OF DEATH
9th November 1943
  • AGE
21
  • GRAVESITE
Neche Union Cemetery,Pembina County,North Dakota
  • ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born 6.11.1922 Neche,North Dakota
father Julius Gurke (1884-1968)
mother Hulda (nee Fischer) Gurke (1890-1970)
USMC 15.4.1942
3 Bn 22 Marine Regiment
3 Raider Bn
PFC 1.8.1943
award Medal of Honor
KIA Bougainville
 

DATE OF DEATH:

09-Nov-1943

AWARD:

https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/gurke-henry.29654/

CITATION:

Medal Of Honor : The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor (Posthumously) to Private First Class Henry Gurke, United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism and courage above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company M, Third Marine Raider Battalion during action against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands area on 9 November 1943. While his platoon was engaged in the defense of a vital road block near Empress Augusta Bay on Bougainville Island. Private First Class Gurke, in company with another Marine, was delivering a fierce stream of fire against the main vanguard of the Japanese. Concluding from the increasing ferocity of grenade barrages that the enemy was determined to annihilate their small, two-man foxhole, he resorted to a bold and desperate measure for holding out despite the torrential hail of shells. When a Japanese grenade dropped squarely into the foxhole, Private First Class Gurke, mindful that his companion manned an automatic weapon of superior fire power and therefore could provide more effective resistance, thrust him roughly aside and flung his own body over the missile to smother the explosion. With unswerving devotion to duty and superb valor, Private First Class Gurke sacrificed himself in order that his comrade might live to carry on the fight. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.

WEB LINKS:

https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/1250

FINDAGRAVE:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8049533/henry-gurke
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