The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to
CRAFT, CLARENCE B.
Rank and organization: Private, First Class, U.S. Army,
Company G, 382d Infantry, 96th Infantry Division. Place and date: Hen
Hill, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 31 May 1945. Entered service at: Santa
Ana, Calif. Birth: San Bernardino, Calif. G.O.
No.: 97, 1 November 1945.
Citation: He was a rifleman when his platoon
spearheaded an attack on Hen Hill, the tactical position on which the entire
Naha-Shuri-Yonaburu line of Japanese defense on Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, was hinged. For
12 days our forces had been stalled, and repeated, heavy assaults by 1 battalion and then
another had been thrown back by the enemy with serious casualties. With 5 comrades, Pfc.
Craft was dispatched in advance of Company G to feel out the enemy resistance. The group
had proceeded only a short distance up the slope when rifle and machinegun fire, coupled
with a terrific barrage of grenades, wounded 3 and pinned down the others. Against odds
that appeared suicidal, Pfc. Craft launched a remarkable 1-man attack. He stood up in full
view of the enemy and began shooting with deadly marksmanship wherever he saw a hostile
movement. He steadily advanced up the hill, killing Japanese soldiers with rapid fire,
driving others to cover in their strongly disposed trenches, unhesitatingly facing alone
the strength that had previously beaten back attacks in battalion strength. He reached the
crest of the hill, where he stood silhouetted against the sky while quickly throwing
grenades at extremely short range into the enemy positions. His extraordinary assault
lifted the pressure from his company for the moment, allowing members of his platoon to
comply with his motions to advance and pass him more grenades. With a chain of his
comrades supplying him while he stood atop the hill, he furiously hurled a total of 2
cases of grenades into a main trench and other positions on the reverse slope of Hen Hill,
meanwhile directing the aim of his fellow soldiers who threw grenades from the slope below
him. He left his position, where grenades from both sides were passing over his head and
bursting on either slope, to attack the main enemy trench as confusion and panic seized
the defenders. Straddling the excavation, he pumped rifle fire into the Japanese at
pointblank range, killing many and causing the others to flee down the trench. Pursuing
them, he came upon a heavy machinegun which was still creating havoc in the American
ranks. With rifle fire and a grenade he wiped out this position. By this time the Japanese
were in complete rout and American forces were swarming over the hill. Pfc. Craft
continued down the central trench to the mouth of a cave where many of the enemy had taken
cover. A satchel charge was brought to him, and he tossed it into the cave. It failed to
explode. With great daring, the intrepid fighter retrieved the charge from the cave,
relighted the fuse and threw it back, sealing up the Japs in a tomb. In the local action,
against tremendously superior forces heavily armed with rifles, machineguns, mortars, and
grenades, Pfc. Craft killed at least 25 of the enemy; but his contribution to the campaign
on Okinawa was of much more far-reaching consequence for Hen Hill was the key to the
entire defense line, which rapidly crumbled after his utterly fearless and heroic attack. |
