Robert H. McCard

He covered his tank crew’s escape with grenades and gunfire.

Robert Howard McCard was born on 25 November 1918 in Syracuse, New York. He played football and baseball at school and worked at the Bear Mountain Inn before enlisting in the United States Marine Corps on 18 December 1939. After training, he served aboard USS Tuscaloosa and then on recruiting duty in Illinois. He joined the 4th Tank Battalion in 1943 and fought at Kwajalein in early 1944.

Robert Howard McCard earned the Medal of Honor on Saipan on June 16, 1944. A gunnery sergeant in Company A, 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division, he continued fighting after enemy guns disabled his tank and cut it off from the platoon.

McCard ordered his crew to escape while he covered them with grenades. Seriously wounded and out of grenades, he removed a machine gun from the tank and continued firing at enemy positions. He died while protecting his crew’s withdrawal.

McCard received the medal posthumously. It was presented to his widow in Centralia, Illinois, on April 10, 1945. He is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

Medal of Honor citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as platoon sergeant of Company A, 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division, during the battle for enemy Japanese-held Saipan, Marianas Islands on 16 June 1944. Cut off from the other units of his platoon when his tank was put out of action by a battery of enemy 77-mm guns, G/Sgt. McCard carried on resolutely, bringing all the tank's weapons to bear on the enemy, until the severity of the hostile fire caused him to order his crew out of the escape hatch while he courageously exposed himself to enemy guns by hurling hand grenades in order to cover the evacuation of his men. Seriously wounded during this action and with his supply of grenades exhausted, G/Sgt. McCard then dismantled one of the tank's machine guns and faced the Japanese for the second time to deliver vigorous fire into their positions, destroying 16 of the enemy but sacrificing himself to insure the safety of his crew. His valiant fighting spirit and supreme loyalty in the face of almost certain death reflect the highest credit upon G/Sgt. McCard and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.