Douglas Albert Munro

Douglas Albert Munro, Medal of Honor

Signalman First Class Douglas Albert Munro (11 October 1919 – 27 September 1942) holds a unique place in American military history as the only member of the United States Coast Guard ever to receive the Medal of Honor. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to an American father and an English mother, his family settled in South Cle Elum, Washington, where he grew up with a reputation for quiet leadership, athletic ability, and an unwavering sense of responsibility. In September 1939, as war engulfed Europe, he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard, believing its mission of saving lives best reflected his own values. (Congressional Medal of Honor Society)

During the Guadalcanal Campaign in the Solomon Islands, Munro served as a Signalman First Class coordinating landing craft operations from Naval Operating Base Cactus. On 27 September 1942, a battalion of U.S. Marines became trapped near Point Cruz during the Second Battle of the Matanikau. Munro was placed in command of a flotilla of Higgins boats tasked with evacuating nearly 500 surrounded Marines under intense Japanese machine-gun fire. (Congressional Medal of Honor Society)

Displaying extraordinary courage, Munro directed the evacuation with exceptional calm before deliberately placing his own landing craft between the exposed Marines and the Japanese positions. Using his boat as a shield, he drew the enemy’s fire onto himself, allowing the remaining landing craft to load and withdraw safely. Even after ensuring every Marine had escaped, he remained at his post until he was struck by enemy bullets. Mortally wounded, his only concern was for the men he had saved. His final reported words were, “Did they get off?” Upon being told they had, he succumbed to his wounds at just 22 years of age. His selfless actions undoubtedly saved hundreds of lives. (Congressional Medal of Honor Society)

For his conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty, Douglas Munro was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who presented the decoration to his parents at the White House on 24 May 1943. Munro also received the Purple Heart and is remembered today through numerous memorials, a Coast Guard headquarters building bearing his name, and the enduring legacy of the Coast Guard’s highest hero. His courage remains the standard against which generations of Coast Guardsmen measure themselves, embodying the service’s motto: Semper Paratus — Always Ready. (Congressional Medal of Honor Society)