Douglas Albert Munro | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname(s) | "The Gold Dust Twins" (with Ray Evans) |
| Born | October 11, 1919 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Died | September 27, 1942 (aged 22) Matanikau River, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands |
| Buried | Laurel Hill Memorial Park, Cle Elum, Washington, United States |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service | United States Coast Guard |
| Years of service | 1939–1942 |
| Rank | Signalman First Class |
| Service number | 217–739[1] |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
| Awards | Medal of Honor Purple Heart |
| Memorials | Douglas Munro Memorial (Honiara, Solomon Islands) Douglas Munro Memorial (Crystal River, Florida) Douglas Munro Burial Site (Cle Elum, Washington) Douglas Munro statue (Cape May, New Jersey) Douglas Munro bust (Washington, D.C.) |
| Relations | Edith Munro (mother) Francis Fairey (uncle) |
Douglas Albert Munro (October 11, 1919 – September 27, 1942) was a United States Coast Guardsman who was posthumously decorated with the Medal of Honor for an act of "extraordinary heroism" during World War II. He is the only person to have received the medal for actions performed during service in the Coast Guard.[a]
Munro was born in Canada to an American father and a British mother, and his family moved to the United States when he was a child. He was raised in South Cle Elum, Washington, and attended Central Washington College of Education before volunteering for military service shortly before the United States entered World War II. Munro and his shipmate Raymond Evans were known as the Gold Dust Twins, so-called because they were inseparable.[3]
During the Guadalcanal Campaign, Munro was assigned to Naval Operating Base Cactus at Lunga Point, where small boat operations were coordinated. At the Second Battle of the Matanikau in September 1942, he led the extrication of a force of Marines whose position had been overrun by Japanese forces. He died of a gunshot wound at age 22 while using the Higgins boat that he was piloting to shield a landing craft filled with Marines from Japanese fire.
Several ships, buildings, and monuments have been dedicated to Munro, and a street in his hometown is named after him. The anniversary of his death is annually observed in Cle Elum and at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. His grave has been designated a historical site by Washington state. He is the namesake of the Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building, Munro Hall at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy,[4] the "Douglas Munro March", the Navy League's Douglas A. Munro Award, the Coast Guard Foundation's Douglas Munro Scholarship Fund, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars' Douglas Munro–Robert H. Brooks Post. He is the only non-Marine to have his name enshrined on the Wall of Heroes of the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
- ^ "Department of the Treasury Form 9546: Douglas Munro Official Service Record" (PDF). defense.gov. U.S. Department of Defense. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 18, 2019. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
- ^ "The Long Blue Line: Hanna – the service's forgotten Medal of Honor hero". Coast Guard Compass. United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office "The Gold Dust Twins"
- ^ "CGA Campus Map".
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