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Master Gunnery Sergeant Richard E. Bush, USMCR, who received the Medal of Honor for heroism on Okinawa in World War II, was born at Glasgow, Kentucky, on 23 December 1924, the son of Clarence and Lois Bush.
Before his enlistment at Bowling Green, Kentucky, on 22 September 1942, he worked for his father as a tractor driver and completed one year of high school.
He received his basic training at the Recruit Depot, San Diego, California, and later was transferred to a replacement battalion at Camp Elliott, California, for further training as an armorer.
For wounds received at Okinawa on 16 April 1945 as a member of the famed 4th Marine Regiment of the 6th Marine Division, Bush was awarded the Purple Heart.
On October 4th, 1945, President Harry Truman, in a White House ceremony, presented then Corporal Bush with the Medal of Honor that he earned for saving a group of wounded Marines and a medical corpsman from a Japanese grenade that landed in their midst.
CITATION:
BUSH, RICHARD EARL
Rank and organization: Corporal, U .S. Marine Corps Reserve, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 6th Marine Division. Place and date: Mount Yaetake on Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 16 April 1945. Entered service at: Kentucky. Born: 23 December 1923, Glasgow, Ky. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a squad leader serving with the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 6th Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces, during the final assault against Mount Yaetake on Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 16 April 1945. Rallying his men forward with indomitable determination, Cpl. Bush boldly defied the slashing fury of concentrated Japanese artillery fire pouring down from the gun-studded mountain fortress to lead his squad up the face of the rocky precipice, sweep over the ridge, and drive the defending troops from their deeply entrenched position. With his unit, the first to break through to the inner defense of Mount Yaetake, he fought relentlessly in the forefront of the action until seriously wounded and evacuated with others under protecting rocks. Although prostrate under medical treatment when a Japanese hand grenade landed in the midst of the group, Cpl. Bush, alert and courageous in extremity as in battle, unhesitatingly pulled the deadly missile to himself and absorbed the shattering violence of the exploding charge in his body, thereby saving his fellow marines from severe injury or death despite the certain peril to his own life. By his valiant leadership and aggressive tactics in the face of savage opposition, Cpl. Bush contributed materially to the success of the sustained drive toward the conquest of this fiercely defended outpost of the Japanese Empire. His constant concern for the welfare of his men, his resolute spirit of self-sacrifice, and his unwavering devotion to duty throughout the bitter conflict enhance and sustain the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
Richard E. Bush, Who Served on Okinawa, Dies at 79
By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN
June 13, 2004
"History of the Sixth Marine Division" /Infantry Journal Press Richard E. Bush in the 1940's.
Richard E. Bush, who received the Medal of Honor for leading a charge up a mountain in the World War II battle for Okinawa and then falling on a hand grenade to protect fellow marines, died last Monday at his home in Waukegan, Ill. He was 79.
The cause was a heart ailment, his son, Richard Jr., told The Chicago Tribune.
When he joined the marines out of high school, Mr. Bush, a native of Glasgow, Ky., hardly envisioned himself a war hero, as he recalled four years ago. "I didn't want to get any medals," the Marine Corps quoted him as saying then.
When he and his brother entered the military service, he said, "My father said: `Let me tell you something. If either one of you comes home with a medal, I'm going to beat you to death.' He was concerned about our welfare and our safety. My father had a saying, `He who fights and runs away, lives to run away another day.' "
On April 16, 1945, serving with the Fourth Marines, Sixth Marine Division, Corporal Bush was involved in some of the fiercest combat in World War II's Pacific campaign, the fight for Okinawa.
In the face of Japanese artillery fire, Corporal Bush led his squad up rocky terrain in the battle to capture the 1,200-foot Mount Yaetake in northern Okinawa, an outpost overlooking two important roads. While participating in the breakthrough to the deeply entrenched inner defenses of the mountain, Corporal Bush was seriously wounded and evacuated with other marines to protecting rocks.
While Corporal Bush "was prostrate under medical treatment," as his Medal of Honor citation put it, a hand grenade hurled by a Japanese defender landed amid the marines. Corporal Bush "unhesitatingly pulled the deadly missile to himself and absorbed the shattering violence of the exploding charge in his body," the citation said.
The grenade explosion tore several fingers off one hand and cost Corporal Bush sight in one eye, according to "Heroes of WW II," by Edward F. Murphy.
Mr. Bush was later a longtime employee of the Veterans Administration.
In addition to his son, Mr. Bush is survived by two grandsons. His wife, Stella, died in 1989.
At a gathering of Medal of Honor recipients in Chicago in 1990, Mr. Bush remembered his exploits.
"I wasn't out there alone that day on Okinawa," he told The Chicago Tribune. "I had marines to my right, marines to my left, marines behind me and marines overhead. I didn't earn this alone. It belongs to them too."
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