February 28 John Harlan Willis Medal of Honor

John Williams, a corpsman serving with the 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima, earned the Medal of Honor for continuing to tend to wounded Marines despite being badly wounded several times. He was killed when he engaged in a fierce grenade contest with the Japanese, batting back eight grenades while protecting a wounded Marine. Honor and remember him!

From Columbia, Tennessee, Willis joined the Navy in 1940, and served throughout the Pacific with the Navy before transferring to support Marine ground forces. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal presented the Medal of Honor to his widow on December 3, 1945. He is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery in his hometown of Columbia, Tennessee. He was just 23 years off when he was killed.