b. 08/08/1906 Lugoff, South Carolina. d. 21/09/1993 Columbia, South Carolina.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 14/04/1932 Constancia, Nicaragua.
Donald L Truesdell MOH
Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal of Honor Recipient. He served as a Corporal in the United Stares Marine Corps during the 2nd Campaign in Nicaragua. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery at Vicinity Constancia, near Coco River, in northern Nicaragua on April 24, 1932.
Although Truesdale lost his right arm, he continued to serve with the Marine Corps until his retirement as a Commissioned Warrant Officer in May 1946, after 21 years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps. Besides the Medal of Honor, he received the Nicaraguan Cross of Valor and Purple Heart. He married and the couple had six children. He is buried in the family plot at St. Johns Methodist Church Cemetery with a military marker. He has a large upright cenotaph marker at Quaker Cemetery, which was unveiled on May 19, 2004 and has his entire citation inscribed on the front. The cenotaph was erected by the James Leroy Belk Post 17, American Legion, of which he was a member for 50 years. This American Legion Post has a memorial marker in honor of him at the foot of the post’s flag pole. In some documentation, Truesdell is spelled “Truesdale.”
MOH CITATION:
Cpl. Truesdale was second in command of a Guardia Nacional Patrol in active operations against armed bandit forces in the vicinity of Constancia, near Coco River, northern Nicaragua, on 24 April 1932. While the patrol was in formation on the trail searching for a bandit group with which contact had just previously been made, a rifle grenade fell from its carrier and struck a rock, igniting the detonator. Several men close to the grenade at the time were in danger. Cpl. Truesdale, who was several yards away, could easily have sought cover and safety for himself. Knowing full well the grenade would explode within two or three seconds, he rushed for the grenade, grasped it in his right hand, and attempted to throw it away from the patrol. The grenade exploded in his hand, blowing it off and inflicting serious multiple wounds about his body. Cpl. Truesdale, in taking the full shock of the explosion himself, saved the members of the patrol from loss of life or serious injury.
BURIAL LOCATION: ST JOHNS METHODIST CEMETERY, LUGOFF, SOUTH CAROLINA.
IN MEMORY OF MARKER AS CREMATED; ASHES WERE SCATTERED.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: FAMILY.
