But Joe McCarthy knew the uncompromising business of battle; he had the Silver Star for leading his company up a savagely contested hill on Saipan, and his men called him “the best damned officer in the Marine Corps.”[3]On February 20, 1937, McCarthy first enlisted in the Marine Corps in Chicago, and served for four years.

On February 21, 1945, as a captain, he earned the Medal of Honor, while leading an assault team across exposed ground to wipe out positions holding up the advance of his company at airfield No.

Released from active duty following the war, he continued to serve in the Marine Corps Reserve, and was eventually promoted to the grade of lieutenant colonel.

“I hope and pray there's never any more wars.” In 1949, McCarthy drove from Maine to North Carolina in order to visit the families of twenty-six Marines that had been killed on Iwo Jima.

The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to: for service as set forth in the following CITATION: Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy (MCSN: 0-11098), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Commanding Officer of Company G, Second Battalion, Twenty-fourth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan, Marianas Islands, 4 July 1944.

Finding one of the men still alive, he attempted to remove him to safety, despite the withering enemy fire, but during this endeavor, the wounded man was shot through the head, and died in Captain McCarthy's arms.

His outstanding courage, unselfish efforts, and gallant devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.