The valor witnessed in World War II transcended regular bravery. A staggering 473 American service members were presented with the Medal of Honor for their extraordinary deeds amid peril. One such hero was Sgt. Mitchell Paige of the US Marine Corps. During the Guadalcanal Campaign, he took on the enemy against overwhelming odds – and survived.
Mitchell Paige’s entry into the US Marine Corps
Mitchell Paige entered the world on August 31, 1918, in Charleroi, Pennsylvania. His admiration for the US military was instilled at an early age, as he eagerly anticipated the annual Armistice Day parade in his hometown, where World War I veterans would march. Given his profound respect for the armed forces, it came as no surprise that he wasted no time in enlisting in the Marine Corps immediately upon turning 18, embarking on a 200-mile hitchhike to the recruitment station in Baltimore, Maryland.
Upon successfully completing his basic training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, Paige’s military journey took him to Quantico, Virginia, where he served with Company H, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. During this time, he assumed the role of a gunner aboard the USS Wyoming (BB-32) while the vessel participated in exercises off the California coast.
Paige continued in this capacity until February 1937, when he was transferred to Mare Island Navy Yard for guard duty and, later, to Cavite in the Philippine Islands. From October 1938 to September 1939, Paige’s duties led him to guard American interests in China, after which he returned to the US, where he performed guard duty at both the Brooklyn and Philadelphia Navy Yards.
In September 1940, he rejoined the 5th Marine Regiment for exercises in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Guantanamo Bay before being dispatched back to the US to contribute to the construction of what would eventually become Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
Manning four machine guns on Guadalcanal
In the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Mitchell Paige was deployed to Apia, British Samoa, with the 7th Marine Regiment. In September of the next year, he and his fellow soldiers arrived on Guadalcanal, engaging in the inaugural large-scale land offensive conducted by American forces against the Japanese.
“By the time I got to Guadalcanal, I’d been a machine-gunner for six years,” he recounted when talking to the Marine Corps Association. “I was a platoon sergeant, and I required every Marine in my platoon to be able to fieldstrip the water-cooled machine gun, the 1903 Springfield rifle and the .45-caliber pistol. They could do it blindfolded; take it apart and put it back together. Every man.”
During the Battle for Henderson Field on October 26, 1942, Paige and his men were stationed on a saddle hill, between the F and G companies of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. Around 2:00 AM, he detected the sounds of enemy soldiers conversing approximately one hundred yards away, prompting him to prepare his men for an imminent attack.
As Japanese-manned howitzers unleashed artillery fire on their position, Paige’s platoon of 33 faced an overwhelming force of an estimated 2,700 Japanese soldiers. At the risk of being overrun, the Marine, resolute in his defense of the ridge, single-handedly operated the company’s four machine guns and called for reinforcements. When the machine guns were rendered inoperable, he led a bayonet charge against the remaining enemy troops, despite lacking sufficient men for the maneuver.
Fortunately, the Japanese were unaware of this shortage and were ultimately repelled.
“I was so wound up at this point, I couldn’t stop,” he recalled. “I yelled back to the riflemen, ‘Fix bayonets; follow me.’ I threw two belts of ammo over my shoulders, unclamped the machine gun, picked it up and cradled it in my arms after loading it.”
Mitchell Paige was presented with the Medal of Honor
Mitchell Paige served on Guadalcanal until January 1943. At that juncture, the newly promoted second lieutenant was dispatched to Melbourne, Australia, accompanying the 1st Marine Division.
During his time there, Gen. Alexander A. Vandegrift presented him with the Medal of Honor. Vandegrift acknowledged Paige as “the first enlisted Marine in my division to be awarded this medal.” As reported by SFGate, Paige humbly replied, “This Medal of Honor belongs to all 33 men in my platoon on Guadalcanal.”
In September 1943, Paige, along with his division, moved to New Guinea, participating in the Battle of Cape Gloucester with the command of the US Sixth Army. In May of the following year, the 1st Marine Division moved to the Russell Islands, in Pavuvu. Paige, however, returned to the United States and received duty assignments at Camp Lejeune.
During his time back in the US, Paige ascended to the rank of captain. Following this promotion, he assumed the role of Tactical Training Officer at Camp Calvin B. Matthews and, later, served as a recruit training officer at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego.
Remaining in the United States during the Korean War
Following the Second World War, Mitchell Paige entered inactive duty, only to be reactivated four years later at the onset of the Korean War. Despite not serving overseas during the conflict, he played diverse roles, shuttling between various Marine Corps installations across the United States.
Between 1950-57, Paige held many positions, including Plans and Operations Officer of the 2nd Recruit Training Battalion at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot; division recruiting officer with the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune; and as officer in charge at the Division Non-Commissioned Officers School with Sub-Unit #2, Headquarters Company, Headquarters Battalion, 3rd Marine Division in San Francisco.
In May 1959, the now-lieutenant colonel joined the US Army Language School in California, later moving to the Marine Barracks, US Naval Station, San Diego, where he assumed the role of executive officer. A few months later, he was placed on the Marine Corps Disability Retired List, ending his military career. He was promoted to the rank of colonel for commendable performance of duty in combat.
Throughout his extensive service in the Marine Corps, Paige earned numerous awards. In addition to the Medal of Honor, his accolades included the Purple Heart, the American Defense Medal with one Bronze Star, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two Bronze Stars and the China Service Medal, among other decorations.
Mitchell Paige protected the integrity of the MoH until his death
While Mitchell Paige didn’t serve during the Vietnam War, he was an advisor during high-powered rocket testing. In 1975, with the encouragement of actor and fellow Marine Lee Marvin, he penned a memoir, A Marine Named Mitch: An Autobiography Of Mitchell Paige, Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps Retired. It became a favorite of the Marine Corps and was included in the service’s Professional Reading Program.
Paige’s presence in the public eye extended further. In 1998, he served as the model for the Marine Corps character in a line of G.I. Joe action figures honoring Medal of Honor recipients from all branches of the military.
As a Medal of Honor recipient, Paige was devoted to preserving the significance of the award. In his later years, he collaborated with the FBI to identify imposters selling or wearing the medals, successfully advocating for harsher penalties. Reflecting on this effort with Newsday, he remarked, “I couldn’t arrest these guys before I got together with the FBI, but I scared the hell out of them and even got some of the medals back.”
Paige passed away on November 15, 2003, at his residence in La Quinta, California, succumbing to congestive heart failure at the age of 85. He was laid to rest at Riverside National Cemetery with a ceremony that commemorated his service with full military honors.
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Presently, the museum at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Twentynine Palms pays homage to Paige, serving as a testament to his legacy. Furthermore, the Eldrid World War II Museum in Pennsylvania hosts an exhibit dedicated to him, aptly named “Mitchell Paige Hall,” showcasing his Medal of Honor and other memorabilia generously contributed by him before his passing.