Sgt. Darrell Cole, also known as the Fighting Field Musician, enlisted in the Marines in 1941 with the wish of accomplishing one thing and one thing only: slay bodies.
Although he was originally assigned to play the bugle, Cole repeatedly requested that his rating be changed from field musician to machine-gunner. His requests were constantly denied because of shortages of buglers.
Despite being rated as a bugler, he fought as a machine-gunner in several major campaigns including Guadalcanal, Tinian, and Saipan, earning him several medals for valor and the purple heart.
On February 19, 1945 Sgt. Cole led his machine gun section ashore in the initial assault wave on Iwo Jima.
Under a barrage of enemy fire, Cole personally destroyed 2 enemy bunkers with hand grenades. His unit continued to advance until pinned down for a second time by more gun emplacements.
When his machine guns jammed, armed only with a pistol and one hand grenade, Cole made a one-man attack against two gun emplacements, killing everyone near by.
Upon returning to his own squad, he was killed by an enemy grenade.
For his courage and actions displayed on that day, Sgt. Cole was awarded the Medal of Honor. In 1996, the USS Cole DDG-67 was named after him. #ww2 #marines #stayzero #zerofoxtrot