Elbert L. Kinser

Shielded his Marines from a grenade at the cost of his life.

Elbert Luther Kinser was born in Greeneville, Tennessee, on 21 October 1922. He grew up on a farm and enlisted in December 1942. After training at Parris Island, he sailed for the Pacific in March 1943. Service in Samoa and Australia preceded combat at Cape Gloucester, New Britain, and Peleliu. He served as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division.

On 4 May 1945, he was leading a rifle platoon on Okinawa. While moving along a strategic ridge where his men held newly won positions, Kinser encountered a sudden close-range attack from Japanese troops on the reverse slope. He fought them with hand grenades.

When an enemy grenade landed nearby, Kinser threw himself onto it. He absorbed the explosion, protecting his Marines from serious injury or death at the cost of his own life. His actions earned the Medal of Honor posthumously.

Major General Clifton B. Cates presented the medal to Kinser's parents in Tennessee on 4 July 1946. Kinser is buried in Solomon Lutheran Church Cemetery in Greeneville.

Medal of Honor citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while acting as leader of a rifle platoon, serving with Company I, 3d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, in action against Japanese forces on Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 4 May 1945. Taken under sudden, close attack by hostile troops entrenched on the reverse slope while moving up a strategic ridge along which his platoon was holding newly won positions, Sgt. Kinser engaged the enemy in a fierce hand-grenade battle. Quick to act when a Japanese grenade landed in the immediate vicinity, Sgt. Kinser unhesitatingly threw himself on the deadly missile, absorbing the full charge of the shattering explosion in his own body and thereby protecting his men from serious injury and possible death. Stouthearted and indomitable, he had yielded his own chance of survival that his comrades might live to carry on the relentless battle against the fanatic enemy. His courage, cool decision, and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of certain death sustained and enhanced the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.