Claude Thomas Henderson, Jr.
"Hank"
Marine Corps Reserve | Service Number 434661
June 11, 1920
in Norfolk, VA
Claude Thomas Henderson, Sr.
Mary Louise (Tripple) Henderson
Maury High School (1940)
File Clerk
Norfolk & Southern Railroad
October 12, 1942
at Norfolk, VA
December 10, 1942
from 10th Separate Recruit Battalion
July 25, 1944
Died of wounds suffered on Tinian
July 25, 1944
Died of wounds
530 Massachusetts Avenue, Norfolk, VA – address of mother, Mrs. Mary Henderson
Service & Campaigns
Boot camp at Parris Island with Fourth Recruit Battalion and 10th Separate Recruit Battalion.
Outposted to Company A, First Separate Battalion (Reinforced) on 10 December 1942.
Outfit: A/1/24th Marines
Rank: PFC
MOS: 745 (Rifleman) – served with 60mm mortars
Outfit: A/1/24th Marines
Rank: Corporal
MOS: 653 (Squad Leader) – 60mm Mortars
Important Events:
June 22, 1944 – wounded in action (slight, cause unknown) and evacuated to field hospital.
Returned to duty before Tinian landing.
Outfit: A/1/24th Marines
Rank: Corporal
MOS: 653 (Squad Leader) – 60mm Mortars
Important Events:
July 25, 1944 – mortally wounded in action (gunshot, neck) during Japanese counterattack; evacuated to USS Heywood, where he ultimately died.
Awarded Silver Star Medal for actions on this date.
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as leader of a 60mm mortar section serving with the First Battalion, Twenty-Fourth Marines, Fourth Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Tinian, Marianas Islands, 25 July 1944. When hostile units launched a violent counterattack against his company’s position, Corporal Henderson immediately moved to the front lines and, despite withering enemy fire, skillfully directed a fierce mortar barrage against the onrushing Japanese. Assuming a position on the firing line when enemy units advanced too close for further mortar attack, he unhesitatingly exposed himself to hostile fire and furnished cover for a corpsman administering blood plasma to a casualty, firing his weapon with deadly effectiveness until he himself was mortally wounded. Corporal Henderson’s daring initiative and great personal valor in the face of grave peril were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
Individual Decorations
Medal
Silver Star
Purple Heart
– with Gold Star
Campaign
Tinian (July 25, 1944)
Saipan (June 22, 1944)
Tinian (July 25, 1944)
Citation
See above
Service Stories
Claude wanted to become an NCO so badly. He was from Virginia, really a nice guy. We found out he had a blouse with corporal stripes on it in his seabag [he was still a PFC] and boy! Nobody would let him go! He just had this thing where he wanted to become a corporal, and sometimes he sorta acted like a corporal before he was, and it alienated some people.
– George Apple Smith