Lt. Henry A. Commiskey Sr. was no stranger to combat. After enlisting in the Marines in 1944 on his 17th birthday, he saw action in the Pacific and on Iwo Jima; where he was seriously wounded.
At the outbreak of the Korean War, Commiskey survived the Inchon landings with the Marines from 1/1 and on Sept 20, 1950, he led a charge armed only with a pistol against a fortified hill position.
Under murderous mg fire and despite being wounded, Commiskey killed 4 enemy soldiers at point blank range with his sidearm and 7 more in hand to hand combat; destroying several gun emplacements along the way.
A week later, he was wounded once more and was returned to the US, where he learned that he would receive the Medal of Honor (becoming the first Marine of the Korean War to earn it).
After recovering, Commiskey became a jet fighter pilot and went back to fight in Korea with VMFA-212. Commiskey rose to the rank of Major after completing a 22 year stint with the Marines. He retired in 1966.
Unfortunately, on Aug 16, 1971, his wife came home to find his lifeless body resulting from a self inflicted gunshot wound.
His ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.
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