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| Sgt. Joseph Sheehan earned the Navy Cross while serving in the 1st Marine Division at Peleliu. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92612685/joseph-dennis-sheehan https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Peleliu/USMC-M-Peleliu-4.html |
Joseph Dennis Sheehan never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on March 1, 1920 in Massachusetts. His parents Edward and Katherine were born in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, respectively. His father worked as a retail milk company manager and later a wholesale milk company assistant manager who was promoted to manager. Joseph had four older brothers and one older sister. In high school Joseph ran the marathon and held records in the mile run. By 1940 Joseph had completed one year of college and was still living at home.
He enlisted in the US Marine Corps in November 1941. He rose to the rank of sergeant in Company C, First Engineers Battalion, 1st Marine Division.
Sgt. Sheehan saw action in both Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester.
The 1st Marine Division landed on Peleliu on September 15, 1944. Sgt. Sheehan's Company C was attached to the 7th Marine Regiment. The planners anticipated the island would fall in three days. The battle took nearly two-and-a-half months.
For the battle, the Japanese changed their previous tactics to keep more troops on the defensive with fewer futile counterattacks, making each American advance more costly. The 1st Marine Division would lose more than one third of its strength to casualties. Sgt. Sheehan was recognized with the Navy Cross for actions he took on October 4, 1944 during which Japanese fire struck down forty-two of the forty-six men in his unit. The fighting was so bad that day that it ended any future offensive action capability by the 7th Infantry Regiment in the Peleliu battle.
His Navy Cross citation reads as follows:
Vigorously supporting the advance of a friendly company, Sergeant Sheehan led his demolition squad with furious aggressiveness. When the enemy hurled the full force of their huge gun-batteries against the onrushing Marines and held them up with the merciless enfilade fire of one cave-emplaced machine gun which struck down forty-two of the forty-six men in the advancing unit and forced a temporary withdrawal, he fearlessly pushed on alone despite the ceaseless pounding of the heavy Japanese weapons.
With the hostile cave as his objective, he relentlessly worked his way forward and, reaching his goal, dropped a powerful demolition charge into the Japanese position, destroying the valuable machine gun and annihilating the entire gun crew.
By his intrepid initiative, resolute fortitude and decisive action in a critical situation, Sergeant Sheehan contributed essentially to the final crushing of a ruthless and fanatic enemy, and his great personal valor and unwavering devotion to duty throughout reflect the highest credit upon himself and upon the United States Naval Service.
Thank you Sgt. Sheehan for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Joseph.
Last year on this date I profiled Battle of the Bulge fallen Arthur Bettencourt, 90th Infantry Division. You can read about Arthur here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Follow on Twitter @ww2fallen100
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
Sgt. Sheehan's date of death is October 9, 1944. By that point his unit was no longer engaged with the enemy. Perhaps he died of wounds sustained before then.
His grave is at Saint Bernards Catholic Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.
Last year on this date I profiled Battle of the Bulge fallen Arthur Bettencourt, 90th Infantry Division. You can read about Arthur here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
He was given the award posthumously so died on October 4th, during Capt Shanley's attack against Ridge 120. An entire platoon was ambushed by the Japanese. Sgt Sheehan's body was probably found on the 9th of Oct, therefore giving that day the date of his death.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the added details. I would like to update this profile and give you credit for providing this information. Who should I mention? Don Milne
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