Richard K. Sorenson

Covered a grenade to save five other Marines on Namur Island

Richard Keith Sorenson was born in Anoka, Minnesota, on 28 August 1924. After finishing high school in 1942, he enlisted in the Marine Corps that December. Training in California prepared him for service with Company M, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division. He sailed for the Marshall Islands in January 1944.

During the battle for Namur Island at Kwajalein Atoll on 1 and 2 February 1944, Sorenson and five other Marines defended a shell hole against a Japanese counterattack. When a grenade landed among them, he threw himself onto it. The explosion severely wounded him but his companions survived. Following treatment in Hawaii and Seattle, he received the Medal of Honor on 19 July 1944.

Sorenson subsequently served in recruiting assignments. Discharged as a sergeant in 1946, he worked for the Veterans Administration, attended St John's University and joined the Marine Corps Reserve. Recalled in 1950, he again served on recruiting duty, became a master sergeant and received a temporary commission in 1953. He served as an engineer battalion supply officer and in Japan and Okinawa. Before his November 1955 discharge he voluntarily returned from first lieutenant to master sergeant.

After military service, Sorenson returned to the Veterans Administration. He and his wife, Milli, raised five children and later lived in Reno, Nevada. He retired from the VA in 1985. His community work included the United Way, the Boy Scout Council and the Anoka County Historical Society; retirement also gave him time for woodworking, hunting and fishing.

Sorenson died on 9 October 2004 and was buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minnesota.

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 an assault battalion attached to the 4th Marine Division during the battle of Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands on 1-2 February 1944. Putting up a brave defense against a particularly violent counterattack by the enemy during invasion operations, Pvt. Sorenson and five other marines occupying a shell hole were endangered by a Japanese grenade thrown into their midst. Unhesitatingly, and with complete disregard for his own safety, Pvt. Sorenson hurled himself upon the deadly weapon, heroically taking the full impact of the explosion. As a result of his gallant action, he was severely wounded, but the lives of his comrades were saved. His great personal valor and exceptional spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of almost certain death were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.