James Lewis Day

Few United States Marines could trace a career from a shell crater on Okinawa's Sugar Loaf Hill to command of the 1st Marine Division. Major General James Lewis Day did exactly that. An enlisted Marine who became a major general, Day fought in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, was wounded repeatedly in combat, received three Silver Stars, and ultimately received the Medal of Honor for an extraordinary three-day defense that he had carried out as a nineteen-year-old corporal more than half a century earlier.

James Lewis Day was born on 5 October 1925 in East St. Louis, Illinois. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1943 and entered the Pacific war while still a teenager. During World War II he saw combat in the Marshall Islands, on Guam, and on Okinawa. It was on Okinawa in May 1945, while serving as a corporal and squad leader with 2nd Battalion, 22nd Marines, 6th Marine Division, that Day performed the actions that would eventually place his name among the Marine Corps' Medal of Honor recipients.

From 14 to 17 May 1945, during the savage struggle for Sugar Loaf Hill, Day rallied his own squad and survivors of another unit and led them into a critical position forward of the main American lines. Japanese mortar and artillery fire was followed by repeated ground attacks. Half of his men were lost during the opening fighting, but Day remained at the front, directing fire, throwing grenades, and encouraging the Marines around him. Reinforcements arrived, only for the position to face further attacks during the night.

Day's Medal of Honor citation records a succession of extraordinary actions. Under heavy fire, he moved four seriously wounded Marines to safety one at a time. He then helped operate a light machine gun until the weapon was destroyed. Day suffered white phosphorus burns and fragmentation wounds, reorganized the defense, and continued fighting. Japanese troops repeatedly reached within feet of his position. By the third day he was wounded and exhausted, yet still repelled another assault at close range. When the position was finally relieved, more than 100 enemy dead were reported around it and Day's Marines had surrendered no ground.

The Medal of Honor did not result from a later upgrade of another gallantry decoration. President Bill Clinton explained at the 1998 presentation ceremony that Day's battlefield commanders had nominated him for the award while the Battle of Okinawa was still being fought. Heavy casualties and the loss of battlefield reports prevented the paperwork from advancing in 1945. Years later, when Sugar Loaf veterans wanted to restart the process, Day, by then a general officer, discouraged them because he believed pursuing a personal honor would set the wrong example for Marines under his command.

There was still more combat ahead. President Clinton noted that only days after the Sugar Loaf action, Day again distinguished himself on Okinawa and received the Bronze Star Medal for heroism. The Marine Corps later confirmed that his Bronze Star carried the Combat "V" device. His complete Bronze Star citation has not been located in the authoritative public sources reviewed here, so details beyond those officially confirmed facts should not be added without further documentation.

Day remained in the Marine Corps after World War II and became a commissioned officer. After completing The Basic School at Quantico in September 1952, he went to Korea, where he served with Company C, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines and with the 1st Reconnaissance Company of the 1st Marine Division. Korea produced two more remarkable episodes of combat leadership and two Silver Stars.

On 26 October 1952, Second Lieutenant Day led a four-man reconnaissance patrol in front of the Marine main line of resistance. When the patrol encountered the advance element of a much larger enemy force, Day's Marines killed ten enemy soldiers and captured two prisoners. After bringing the prisoners back toward friendly lines, Day joined the defense of a Marine position under attack. His Silver Star citation records that he personally killed two enemy soldiers with his trench knife and took part in directing the defense after the platoon commander was killed, remaining in action until friendly forces relieved the position.

On 23 January 1953, Day again led a reconnaissance patrol deep into enemy territory. After contact was made, he moved to the head of his patrol and controlled the action at close range. He was wounded during the firefight but continued directing his Marines, refused treatment until the patrol and its prisoner had withdrawn, and remained with the rear guard during the disengagement. That action brought another Silver Star. Together with the Silver Star he would later receive in Vietnam, the three awards are represented by the Silver Star Medal with two gold award stars.

Day's first Vietnam tour began in 1966 with 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. His Legion of Merit citation provides the most precise chronology, recording service as executive officer and later commanding officer of the battalion, followed by duty as an assistant operations officer with the 3rd Marine Division. On 20 July 1966, during Operation Liberty near Hill 55, Day positioned himself with assault units while directing combat against a numerically superior force. Although wounded, he refused evacuation. On 24 September he assumed command of the battalion after its commander was critically wounded. He was wounded again on 25 February 1967 during Operation Chinook II. His performance from May 1966 through June 1967 resulted in the Legion of Merit with Combat "V."

His third Silver Star came during Operation Prairie II, from 2 to 4 March 1967, west of Cam Lo near the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. Day repeatedly moved through exposed positions while directing 1st Battalion, 9th Marines against heavily armed North Vietnamese forces. On 4 March, an 82 mm mortar round exploded near him and seriously injured his back. He nevertheless continued commanding throughout the day and did not permit himself to be evacuated until the battalion had established its defensive positions, casualties had been removed, and resupply had been completed. The citation awarded him a second gold star in lieu of a third Silver Star.

Day's record also included six Purple Hearts, an unusually high number of combat wound awards. His official Marine Corps biography confirms all six, along with the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with Combat "V," the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V," and two awards of the Navy Commendation Medal, now known as the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, with Combat "V." The second Commendation Medal is represented by a gold award star. Because complete authoritative citations for every wound and for both Commendation Medal awards have not been located in the public record reviewed here, assigning specific incidents to them without personnel-file evidence would go beyond what the surviving sources establish.

After Vietnam, Day's career moved steadily into senior command. He attended the Army War College from 1971 to 1972 and then returned to Southeast Asia as Operations Officer of the 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade, III Marine Amphibious Force. In March 1973 he became commanding officer of Camp Fuji, Japan. Promoted to colonel later that year, he subsequently served with the 4th Marine Corps District. He became a brigadier general in 1976 and Commanding General of Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in November 1977.

In 1978 Day was assigned as Deputy Director for Operations, J-3, at the National Military Command Center on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The following year he became Assistant Division Commander of the 1st Marine Division and Commanding General of the 7th Marine Amphibious Brigade. Promoted to major general on 1 August 1980, Day took command of the 1st Marine Division and later received the additional responsibility of commanding I Marine Amphibious Force. He subsequently served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Training at Headquarters Marine Corps.

His final assignment took him back to Okinawa, the island where his most famous battle had been fought nearly four decades earlier. Beginning in July 1984, Day served as Commanding General, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler, Deputy Commander of Marine Corps Bases Pacific (Forward), and Okinawa Area Coordinator. When he retired on 1 December 1986 after approximately forty-three years of Marine Corps service, he was presented the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for exceptionally meritorious service in that final assignment.

Yet the story of Sugar Loaf was still unfinished. On 20 January 1998, President Bill Clinton presented Major General James Lewis Day with the Medal of Honor in the East Room of the White House. Day received the medal as a retired major general, but the decoration honored what Corporal Day had done from 14 to 17 May 1945. Clinton also recalled the extraordinary breadth of Day's combat record: two Silver Stars in Korea, a third in Vietnam, a Bronze Star for additional heroism on Okinawa, and six Purple Hearts accumulated across three wars.

James Lewis Day died of a heart attack on 28 October 1998 in Cathedral City, California, only nine months after receiving the Medal of Honor. He was seventy-three years old and was buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. His career had begun as an enlisted Marine during World War II and ended in the rank of major general, with command of Marines at battalion, brigade, division, and Marine Amphibious Force level.

What makes Major General James Lewis Day's story exceptional is not one moment alone. At Sugar Loaf Hill he continued fighting while wounded and nearly isolated. In Korea he led reconnaissance patrols beyond friendly lines and remained in action after being hit. In Vietnam he commanded Marines under heavy fire, suffered further wounds, and refused evacuation until his battalion was secure. More than fifty years after Okinawa, the United States finally completed the recognition his wartime commanders had begun in 1945. His Medal of Honor, three Silver Stars, six Purple Hearts, Bronze Star with Combat "V," Legion of Merit with Combat "V," Navy Commendation Medal awards, Defense Superior Service Medal, and Navy Distinguished Service Medal document a Marine Corps career that stretched from a teenage rifleman in the Pacific to one of the Corps' senior commanders.