Born in Tacoma, Washington, Robert E. Bush was an 18-year-old US Naval medical corpsman when US forces invaded the island of Okinawa in April 1945. Bush was forward deployed, and when a Marine office leading the attack fell, Bush ran to an exposed position to aid the wounded man. As Bush was administering plasma, the Japanese counterattacked, forcing Bush to hold the plasma bottle with one hand while brandishing his .45-caliber Colt sidearm with the other. He fired into the charging Japanese until the pistol was out of ammunition, then picked up a discarded carbine and killed six more Japanese, suffering his own wounds and losing an eye during the firefight.
Bush survived, and became the youngest sailor awarded the Medal of Honor during the Second World War. The nation’s highest military decoration for vaor, it was presented to Bush on the South Lawn of the White House by President Harry S. Truman in October 1945.
