congressional medal of honor

SM1c DOUGLAS Albert MUNRO
10/11/1919 - 9/27/1942

Signalman First Class Douglas Albert Munro, U.S. Coast Guard, died heroically on 27 September 1942 while engaged in intense fighting during the World War II Battle of Quadalcanal. Having volunteered to evacuate a detachment of Marines who were facing annihilation by an unanticipated large enemy force, he succeeded in safely extricating them and, while doing so, was mortally wounded.

Petty Officer Munro Munro was in charge of a detachment of ten boats that had landed Marines at the scene. He then led his small boat force to a previously assigned rally position. Almost immediately upon his return, he was advised by the officer-in-charge that conditions at the insertion point were worse than expected.  The Marines came under heavy attack from a larger Japanese force and needed to be extracted immediately.  Petty Officer Munro volunteered to lead the boats back to beach for the evacuation.  Commanding the rescue force, he directed the boats in-shore under extreme enemy fire and proceeded to evacuate the Marines from the beach. Though the majority of the Marines had been loaded into the boats, the last remaining elements of the rear guard were having difficulty embarking.  Quickly assessing the situation, Petty Officer Munro maneuvered himself and his boats into a position to cover the last group of Marines as they headed to the boats.  In doing so, he exposed himself to greater enemy fire and, consequently, suffered fatal wounds.  It was reported that he had remained conscious long enough to utter his final words, "Did they get off”? 

For his gallant and altruistic actions in the completion of the rescue mission, Petty Officer Munro was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  On 24 May 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented the MoH to Petty Officer Munro’s mother, Edith, during a presentation ceremony in the White House Oval Office.  Petty Officer Munro was also posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal.  His other decorations included the American Defense Service Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

Petty Officer Munro is the Coast Guard’s only Medal of Honor recipient. 

Two U.S. Coast Guard cutters have been named after Petty Officer Munro:  USCGC MUNRO/DOUGLAS MUNRO (WHEC-724) and USCGC MUNRO (WMSL-755).  Commissioned in 1971, USCGC MUNRO/DOUGLAS MUNRO (WHEC-724) served for almost 50 years before being decommissioned in 2021.  Christened in 2015, USCGC MUNRO (WMSL-755) was commissioned in 2017 with Julie Sheehan, Petty Officer Munro's great-niece, serving as the ship's sponsor.  Additionally, the USS DOUGLAS A. MUNRO (DE-422), a U.S. Navy John C. Butler-class destroyer escort, was also named in honor of Petty Officer Munro.

(excerpts from the Coast Guard Historian’s Office and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society)