This is how you earn the Medal of Honor...
Clarence Byrle Craft. Born in CA but lived the last half of his life in AR. This is a passage from Arkansas at War. This is a book on the military history of the state that I wrote.
Reaching the crest of the hill, Craft could see the trenches where the enemy was dug-in. Standing atop the hill he began throwing hand grenades into the trenches, wreaking havoc on the Japanese defenders. Craft began waving to the rest of his company waiting at the bottom of the hill, urging them to move forward. Seeing the effectiveness of Craft?s grenade throwing, some members of the company started passing him the grenades they carried, and he continued to hurl the explosive devices at the enemy positions as other American soldiers threw their grenades from behind and below him on the slope. Craft stood alone on the crest, throwing grenades as grenades thrown by friend and foe alike literally sailed over his head as both sides fought a bitter battle. By the time Craft abandoned his position on the crest, he had lobbed over two cases worth of grenades.
Craft moved forward off the crest and down the opposite slope of Hen Hill. Spotting the main trench used by the Japanese defenders, he ran to the excavation and straddled the ditch as he began killing enemy soldiers with rifle fire. The Japanese were in a total panic at this point and began fleeing the trenches. Craft pursued them, running down the hill firing his rifle as he ran. He came across a machinegun position and without hesitation he tossed a grenade at the gun crew and then sprayed them with rifle bullets.
By this time the Americans had swarmed over the top of Hen Hill and were driving the Japanese soldiers before them in a complete rout. Craft led the pursuit of the fleeing enemy and he saw a number of Japanese soldiers retreating into a cave. A ?satchel charge? was brought to him. He lit the fuse and threw it into the cave. But the fuse went out and the charge failed to detonate. There were no other satchel charges available so with incredible daring Craft crawled into the cave and retrieved the charge that had not gone off. Relighting the fuse once again he hurled it into the cave and this time it exploded, collapsing the cave?s roof and entombing the Japanese soldiers taking cover inside.
Reaching the crest of the hill, Craft could see the trenches where the enemy was dug-in. Standing atop the hill he began throwing hand grenades into the trenches, wreaking havoc on the Japanese defenders. Craft began waving to the rest of his company waiting at the bottom of the hill, urging them to move forward. Seeing the effectiveness of Craft?s grenade throwing, some members of the company started passing him the grenades they carried, and he continued to hurl the explosive devices at the enemy positions as other American soldiers threw their grenades from behind and below him on the slope. Craft stood alone on the crest, throwing grenades as grenades thrown by friend and foe alike literally sailed over his head as both sides fought a bitter battle. By the time Craft abandoned his position on the crest, he had lobbed over two cases worth of grenades.
Craft moved forward off the crest and down the opposite slope of Hen Hill. Spotting the main trench used by the Japanese defenders, he ran to the excavation and straddled the ditch as he began killing enemy soldiers with rifle fire. The Japanese were in a total panic at this point and began fleeing the trenches. Craft pursued them, running down the hill firing his rifle as he ran. He came across a machinegun position and without hesitation he tossed a grenade at the gun crew and then sprayed them with rifle bullets.
By this time the Americans had swarmed over the top of Hen Hill and were driving the Japanese soldiers before them in a complete rout. Craft led the pursuit of the fleeing enemy and he saw a number of Japanese soldiers retreating into a cave. A ?satchel charge? was brought to him. He lit the fuse and threw it into the cave. But the fuse went out and the charge failed to detonate. There were no other satchel charges available so with incredible daring Craft crawled into the cave and retrieved the charge that had not gone off. Relighting the fuse once again he hurled it into the cave and this time it exploded, collapsing the cave?s roof and entombing the Japanese soldiers taking cover inside.
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I wonder what pissed him off...[:)] 0 -
Much Respect to Clarence Byrle Craft.
Well done Sir.0 -
quote:Originally posted by ltcdoty
I wonder what pissed him off...[:)]
Not sure he was pissed off, maybe he had such good luck at first he just kept doing the same thing until he ran out of Japs?0 -
LIKE !!!! 0 -
Heckuva guy. Good story. Well written. 0 -
Great story, thanks for posting. 0
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