Charles L. Gilliland

A teenage rifleman held off an assault to cover his comrades

Charles Leon Gilliland was a 17-year-old U.S. Army soldier from Arkansas whose last stand near Tongmang-ni, Korea, helped keep an enemy force from overrunning his company. Born May 24, 1933, near Colfax in Baxter County, he was the second of nine children and grew up in neighboring Marion County. He loved hunting and fishing, was fascinated by military and police work, and built his strength by lifting rocks and an anvil. Gilliland pressed his parents for permission to enlist; he entered the Army on his seventeenth birthday in 1950, just one month before the Korean War began.

After basic training at Fort Riley, Kansas, Gilliland shipped overseas in October 1950 with Company I, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. On April 25, 1951, near Tongmang-ni, a numerically superior enemy force launched a coordinated assault against the company perimeter. Gilliland’s automatic rifle covered a defile where the attack was concentrated. When his assistant was killed, he continued firing and helped stem the advance. Two enemy soldiers got through into his sector; Gilliland left his foxhole and killed both with his pistol. A serious head wound did not persuade him to leave his position. He refused medical attention and returned to defend the defile.

When the company was ordered to withdraw to new positions, Gilliland volunteered to remain behind and cover the movement. His fire delayed the assault and prevented the enemy from overrunning the company’s position, but the unit was unable to recover him amid the fighting. He remains unaccounted for; later searches did not locate his remains. Recommended for the Medal of Honor in 1952, he was declared dead in 1954, and his family received the award at the Pentagon that December. He was the youngest Medal of Honor recipient of the Korean War. The Navy later named the sealift ship USNS Gilliland in his honor, and the search to account for him continues.

### Medal of Honor citation

“Corporal Gilliland, a member of Company I, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and outstanding courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. A numerically superior hostile force launched a coordinated assault against his company perimeter, the brunt of which was directed up a defile covered by his automatic rifle. His assistant was killed by enemy fire, but Corporal Gilliland, facing the full force of the assault, poured a steady fire into the foe, which stemmed the onslaught. When two enemy soldiers escaped his raking fire and infiltrated the sector, he leaped from his foxhole, overtook and killed them both with his pistol. Sustaining a serious head wound in this daring exploit, he refused medical attention and returned to his emplacement to continue his defense of the defile. His unit was ordered back to new defensive positions, but Corporal Gilliland volunteered to remain to cover the withdrawal and hold the enemy at bay. His heroic actions and indomitable devotion to duty prevented the enemy from completely overrunning his company positions. Corporal Gilliland's incredible valor and supreme sacrifice reflect lasting glory upon himself and are in keeping with the honored traditions of the military service.”

Citation source: Congressional Medal of Honor Society.