Everett P. Pope

Infobox Military Person
name= Everett Parker Pope
born= birth date and age|1919|7|16
died=
placeofbirth= Milton, Massachusetts
placeofdeath=
placeofburial=


caption= Major Everett P. Pope, Medal of Honor recipient
nickname=
allegiance= flag|United States
branch=United States Marine Corps
serviceyears= 1941–1951
rank= Major
commands=
unit= 1st Battalion, 1st Marines
battles= World War II *Battle of Guadalcanal *Battle of Peleliu
awards= Medal of Honor Purple Heart
laterwork=Major Everett Parker Pope (born July 16, 1919) is a retired United States Marine Corps who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his conspicuous gallantry on Peleliu in September 1944 while leading his men in an assault on a strategic hill, and for holding it, with rocks and bare fists when ammunition ran low, against Japanese suicide attacks.

Medal of Honor action

On September 20, 1944, Capt Pope and his company set out to storm Hill 154, a steep, barren, coral hill protruding from the face of Suicide Ridge, according to a field dispatch from TSgt Joseph L. Alli of Buffalo, New York, a Marine Corps Combat Correspondent.

From almost point-blank range, Japanese mortars and field guns opened up on them from adjoining peaks on Suicide Ridge. Capt Pope and his men took Hill 154 at dusk after hours of bloody fighting which nearly annihilated the group.

Forced to deploy his men thinly, he nevertheless determined to hold his ground for the night. Immediately after darkness fell, the Japanese started to attack, first in small infiltrating bands, and, when these units failed, in groups of 20 to 25 who tried storming the hill.

Each time, the Marines opened fire with everything they had — one light machine gun, several Tommy guns and rifles, and a limited supply of hand grenades. When the grenades ran low, they hurled rocks. "We would throw three or four rocks, then a grenade. The Japanese didn't know which were which," one Marine said.

By sunrise the Marines were beating off the enemy with bare fists and hurling ammunition boxes at them. Finally only eight riflemen remained. When daylight brought deadly fire, Capt Pope was ordered to withdraw.

Marine Corps career

Everett Parker Pope was born on July 16, 1919 in Milton, Massachusetts, and later moved to North Quincy. He graduated with honor from North Quincy High School in 1936. In June 1941, he received his Bachelor of Science degree upon graduation from Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, where he was captain of the tennis team. He graduated magna cum laude, with honors in French, and designated a Phi Beta Kappa.

On November 1, 1941, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He trained at Quantico, Virginia, and New River, North Carolina, prior to going overseas in June 1942 with the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines. On August 7, 1942, as the leader of a machine gun platoon, he participated in the landing and action at Guadalcanal.

In 1943, he was transferred to Melbourne, Australia with his unit. Later, he again went into combat, as a company commander with the 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, in the Cape Gloucester, New Britain campaign, from December 1943 to April 1944. In the mopping-up operations which followed, he led a 14-man patrol which in one day killed 20 and captured seven of the enemy during a 12-mile trek over jungle trails.

From September 12, 1944 to September 30, 1944, he took part in action in the Peleliu campaign during which he acted with "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty", and for which he would later be awarded the Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart. Although wounded in action on September 20, he returned to duty the next day, and remained overseas until November 1944.

Pope was promoted to major in January 1945 and assigned for one year as a student in the Japanese language course at Yale University. On July 16, 1946, he was assigned an inactive duty status in the Marine Corps, and returned to his home and private employment in Massachusetts. There he became affiliated with the Marine Corps Reserve and commanded the 2nd Infantry Battalion, USMCR, Hingham, Massachusetts, until August 1950, when he was called to active duty with his battalion upon the outbreak of the Korean Conflict. He served as Executive Officer of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, until September 1951, when he was released to inactive duty and, shortly thereafter, resigned his commission in the Marine Corps.

Medal of Honor citation

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to
CAPTAIN EVERETT P. POPE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

:For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Commanding Officer of Company C, First Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Peleliu Island, Palau Group, on 19-September 20, 1944. Subjected to point-blank cannon fire which caused heavy casualties and badly disorganized his company while assaulting a steep coral hill, Captain Pope rallied his men and gallantly led them to the summit in the face of machine-gun, mortar, and sniper fire. Forced by wide-spread hostile attack to deploy the remnants of his company thinly in order to hold the ground won, and with his machine-guns out of action and insufficient water and ammunition, he remained on the exposed hill with twelve men and one wounded officer, determined to hold through the night. Attacked continuously with grenades, machine-guns, and rifles from three sides and twice subjected to suicidal charges during the night, he and his valiant men fiercely beat back or destroyed the enemy, resorting to hand-to-hand combat as the supply of ammunition dwindled and still maintaining his lines with his eight remaining riflemen when daylight brought more deadly fire and he was ordered to withdraw. His valiant leadership against devastating odds while protecting the units below from heavy Japanese attack reflects the highest credit upon Captain Pope and the United States Naval Service.

/S/ FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

Haldane Cup

Andrew Haldane, captain of the 1940 Bowdoin football team, was one of Pope's classmates at Bowdoin College. Haldane was a Marine Corps Captain who was company commander of (K/3/5) in the 1st Marine Division — and was killed in the Battle of Peleliu. Pope and seven other classmates established a fund for the Haldane Cup, an award presented to the senior who demonstrates the leadership and character of Andrew "Andy" Haldane.cite web
accessdate=2007-12-21|url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/aahaldane.htm
title="Andrew A. Haldane, Captain, United States Marine Corps"
publisher=Arlington National Cemetery website
date=January 7, 2007] cite book|accessdate=2007-12-21
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=gQrnR5UMVR4C&pg=PA346&lpg=PA346&dq=haldane+cup&source=web&ots=0S3taPcTXE&sig=A3_Et4R8hNKaqM0K0NbaWAb3EHY
title=Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944 — The Bloodiest Battle
page=346
author=Sloan, Bill
year=2005]

ee also

*List of Medal of Honor recipients
*List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II

Notes

References

:Marine Corps
*cite web
accessdate=2007-10-24
url=http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Whos_Who/Pope_EP.htm
title=Major Everett Parker Pope, USMCR
work=Who's Who in Marine Corps History
publisher=History Division, United States Marine Corps

*cite web|accessdate=
url=http://www.usmc.mil/moh.nsf/000003c919889c0385255f980058f5b6/0000033ba9f47a7385255fa40064006f?OpenDocument |title=Capt Everett P. Pope, Medal of Honor, 1944, 1/1/1, Peleliu Island (Medal of Honor citation)
work=Marines Awarded the Medal of Honor
publisher=History Division, United States Marine Corps
archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070220212011/http://www.usmc.mil/moh.nsf/000003c919889c0385255f980058f5b6/0000033ba9f47a7385255fa40064006f?OpenDocument
archivedate=2007-02-20

*cite book
title=Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944 — The Bloodiest Battle
author=Sloan, Bill
year=2005
publisher=Simon and Schuster
isbn=0743260090

Further reading

*Hallas, James. "The Devil’s Anvil: The Assault on Peleliu", Praeger Publishers, 1994. (ISBN 0-275-94646-0)
*McMillan, George. "The Old Breed: A History of the First Marine Division in World War II", Zenger Pub., 1983. (ISBN 0-89201-052-5)