Thinking about Henry Elrod today, who earned the Medal of Honor posthumously for his leadership in defending Wake Island in the opening days of World War II. Honor and remember him!

Elrod arrived on Wake on December 4, 1941 with VMF-211, and few his first combat sortie on December 8. On December 12, he single-handedly attacked a flight of 22 planes and downed two. He then sank the Kisaragai, a Japanese destroyer, with a well placed bomb that hit the ship’s depth charges.

When his squadron’s planes were all destroyed, Elrod fought as an infantry officer, before he was mortally wounded, and he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Honor and remember this great Marine leader!