Daniel Paul Matthews

At just 21 years old, Sergeant Daniel Paul Matthews faced a choice on a Korean hillside that would define his place in United States Marine Corps history. Pinned down by enemy machine-gun fire on Vegas Hill, Matthews saw that the same weapon was preventing a corpsman from evacuating a wounded Marine. He left cover, closed on the enemy position alone, and attacked it with his rifle. Mortally wounded in the assault, he continued fighting until the machine gun was silenced and his wounded comrade could be carried to safety. For that final act of courage on 28 March 1953, Matthews was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, becoming the 41st Marine to receive the nation's highest military decoration for heroism in Korea.

Daniel Paul Matthews was born on 31 December 1931 in Van Nuys, California, alongside his twin brother. He attended Van Nuys High School, where he participated in football and track before leaving school in 1948. Before entering military service, he worked as a concrete-mixer operator for a Los Angeles contractor. His path changed on 21 February 1951, when he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.

After completing recruit training in San Diego in April 1951, Matthews was promoted to private first class and assigned to Camp Pendleton. He served with the 6th Infantry Training Battalion and later with the 1st Battalion, 3d Marines. His rise through the enlisted ranks was rapid. He became a corporal in March 1952 and was promoted to sergeant that July, less than eighteen months after joining the Marine Corps.

In January 1953, Sergeant Matthews sailed for Korea. The following month he joined Company F, 2d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, where he served as a squad leader. He arrived during the final and increasingly violent phase of the Korean War, when the Marines were defending a network of forward positions in western Korea. Among the most fiercely contested were the outposts Reno, Carson and Vegas, positions that became the scene of major fighting in March 1953. Official Marine Corps history records the struggle around Vegas as part of the intense battles fought by the 1st Marine Division while holding the western sector of the United Nations line.

On 28 March 1953, Matthews participated in a counterattack against a heavily fortified enemy position on Vegas Hill. The hostile force had already turned back six previous assaults. As Matthews led his squad forward, machine-gun fire from the peak of the position brought the Marines to a halt. He then noticed a wounded Marine lying exposed while a corpsman was unable to reach and remove him because of the enemy fire.

Matthews began working his way toward the machine-gun emplacement. Armed with his rifle, he reached the base of the position, climbed onto the rocks surrounding it and launched a single-handed assault. Enemy fire struck and mortally wounded him, but Matthews refused to stop. He killed two members of the machine-gun crew, forced a third to seek cover and silenced the weapon. With the gun out of action, his fellow Marines were able to evacuate the wounded man. Matthews died from his wounds before medical assistance could reach him. His Medal of Honor citation credited his courage, initiative and determination with directly helping save his comrade's life.

The Medal of Honor was awarded to Sergeant Daniel Paul Matthews posthumously for his actions at Vegas Hill. On 29 March 1954, nearly one year after his death, Secretary of the Navy Robert B. Anderson presented the medal to Matthews's parents during a ceremony at the Pentagon. The presentation date should not be confused with the date of his Medal of Honor action, which was 28 March 1953. Matthews was also posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for the wounds that caused his death. His official Marine Corps biography further records the National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with one bronze service star, and United Nations Service Medal among his honours.

A complete reconstruction of Matthews's military honours also reflects awards connected to his combat service and the record of the 1st Marine Division. The official Navy Unit Commendation citation authorized the ribbon for personnel serving with the 1st Marine Division during the period from 11 August 1952 through 5 May 1953, which includes Matthews's February and March 1953 service with Company F, 2d Battalion, 7th Marines. The Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation likewise covered the 1st Marine Division for the overall period from 26 October 1950 through 27 July 1953 and specifically carried the right to wear its ribbon for individual members who served with the division in Korea during that period.

Matthews's combat record also establishes retroactive eligibility for the Combat Action Ribbon under Department of the Navy regulations. The Combat Action Ribbon has an effective date extending back to 7 December 1941, and current Navy and Marine Corps awards policy states that receipt of a personal military decoration for valor qualifies an individual for the ribbon. The Medal of Honor is specifically categorized as a decoration for valor. For former service members, the regulations provide for retrospective eligibility determinations using official military evidence.

His service in Korea also falls within the authorized criteria for the Republic of Korea War Service Medal. Although the medal was originally offered by the Republic of Korea during the war, the United States approved its acceptance and wear for Korean War veterans in 1999. Eligibility extends to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who served in Korea or adjacent waters between 25 June 1950 and 27 July 1953, a period that encompasses Matthews's Korean service.

After his death, Matthews's remains were returned to the United States in May 1953. His twin brother, who had enlisted in the U.S. Navy, accompanied his body home. Sergeant Daniel Paul Matthews was buried at Glen Haven Cemetery in San Fernando, California. He had served in the Marine Corps for little more than two years and had been in Korea only a matter of weeks before his death.

Daniel Paul Matthews is remembered as a Korean War Medal of Honor recipient, but the meaning of his final action reaches beyond the decoration itself. On Vegas Hill, with enemy fire dominating the ground before him, he chose to expose himself so that another Marine might live. He continued his attack after receiving mortal wounds and succeeded in destroying the immediate threat before dying at the age of 21. His sacrifice remains one of the enduring examples of Marine Corps courage and of the principle embodied in the words he lived in his final moments: placing the lives of his comrades before his own.