b. 06/06/1925 Seneca, South Carolina. d. 07/10/1952 Korea.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 07/10/1952 Korea.
Lewis G Watkins MOH
Watkins was born June 6, 1925, in Seneca, South Carolina, to Pauline and Fred Watkins, a World War I veteran. Lewis had eight siblings, and they all grew up on a farm.
Watkins, whose nickname was Slim, dropped out of high school to join the Navy during World War II, according to the Anderson Independent-Mail, an Anderson, South Carolina, newspaper. He survived the war, but his brother, Frank, did not. Frank Watkins died of tuberculosis after coming home from a prisoner-of-war camp. After Lewis Watkins returned home, there weren’t many jobs available to him, so he decided to get his General Education Diploma. Watkins earned it through Greenville High School in 1949 before joining the Greenville Police Department. However, in September 1950, shortly after the Korean War broke out, he took a leave of absence to join the Marine Corps. Watkins told his family he wanted to do his part.
After basic training, Watkins served at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and Camp Pendleton, California, before his unit — the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division — was sent to Korea.
In early October 1952, the 1st Marine Division took part in what was known as the First Battle of the Hook, which was fought over several frontline outposts. In the early-morning hours of October 7, Watkins was serving as the guide of a rifle platoon for Company I, which was tasked with retaking an outpost that had been overrun by the enemy earlier in the night.
Watkins skilfully led his platoon up the designated hill, but at its crest, a well-entrenched enemy force attacked using small-arms fire and grenades. Watkins suffered serious injuries, but he continued to lead his men despite the pain. At one point, he grabbed an automatic rifle from another wounded man to help pin down an enemy machine gun that was holding up the assault. When the team tried to move through a trench, an enemy grenade landed among them. Watkins didn’t hesitate. He pushed his fellow Marines aside to shield them from the explosive device, then picked it up to try to throw it away.
Time ran out before he could. The grenade exploded in Watkins’ hand, mortally wounding him. His selflessness, however, saved the lives of several of his comrades and contributed to the success of the mission. That heroism led Watkins to posthumously receive the Medal of Honor. Vice President Richard M. Nixon bestowed the high honor upon his parents on September 9, 1953, during a ceremony at Marine Corps Barracks in Washington, D.C.
Watkins’ parents donated his medal to the Oconee Military Museum in Walhalla, South Carolina. Watkins’ remains were not recovered. He is listed on the Wall of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
MOH CITATION:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a guide of a rifle platoon of Company I, in action against enemy aggressor forces during the hours of darkness on the morning of 7 October 1952. With his platoon assigned the mission of retaking an outpost which had been overrun by the enemy earlier in the night, S/Sgt. Watkins skillfully led his unit in the assault up the designated hill. Although painfully wounded when a well-entrenched hostile force at the crest of the hill engaged the platoon with intense small-arms and grenade fire, he gallantly continued to lead his men. Obtaining an automatic rifle from one of the wounded men, he assisted in pinning down an enemy machine gun holding up the assault. When an enemy grenade landed among S/Sgt. Watkins and several other marines while they were moving forward through a trench on the hill crest, he immediately pushed his companions aside, placed himself in a position to shield them, and picked up the deadly missile in an attempt to throw it outside the trench. Mortally wounded when the grenade exploded in his hand, S/Sgt. Watkins, by his great personal valor in the face of almost certain death, saved the lives of several of his comrades and contributed materially to the success of the mission. His extraordinary heroism, inspiring leadership, and resolute spirit of self-sacrifice reflect the highest credit upon himself and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
BURIAL LOCATION: BODY NOT RECOVERED. NAMED ON WALL OF THE MISSING, NATIONAL CEMETERY OF THE PACIFIC, HONOLULU, HAWAII.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: PATRIOTS HALL, OCONEE VETERANS MUSEUM, WALHALLA, SOUTH CAROLINA.
