Richard E. Kraus

He covered a grenade to save the lives of his three comrades

Richard Edward Kraus was born in Chicago on 24 November 1925 and moved to Minneapolis with his family as a child. He attended Edison High School and entered the Marine Corps on his eighteenth birthday. He trained at San Diego and Camp Pendleton before deploying to the Pacific in July 1944.

As a private first class with the 8th Amphibian Tractor Battalion on Peleliu, Kraus volunteered to help evacuate a wounded Marine. Enemy grenade fire forced the stretcher party to abandon its advance. Returning toward the rear, the men encountered two Japanese soldiers initially mistaken for Marines. One threw a grenade into their group. Kraus covered it with his body and was killed, saving all three companions.

His mother received his posthumous Medal of Honor in Minneapolis in 1945. Initially buried on Peleliu, his remains were returned to Minnesota in 1948 and reinterred at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

Medal of Honor citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 8th Amphibious Tractor Battalion, Fleet Marine Force, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Peleliu, Palau Islands on 5 October 1944. Unhesitatingly volunteering for the extremely hazardous mission of evacuating a wounded comrade from the front lines, Pfc. Kraus and three companions courageously made their way forward and successfully penetrated the lines for some distance before the enemy opened with an intense, devastating barrage of hand grenades which forced the stretcher party to take cover and subsequently abandon the mission. While returning to the rear, they observed two men approaching who appeared to be marines and immediately demanded the password. When, instead of answering, one of the two Japanese threw a hand grenade into the midst of the group, Pfc. Kraus heroically flung himself upon the grenade and, covering it with his body, absorbed the full impact of the explosion and was instantly killed. By his prompt action and great personal valor in the face of almost certain death, he saved the lives of his three companions, and his loyal spirit of self-sacrifice reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his comrades.