Lewis Millett

Lewis Lee Millett Sr. (December 15, 1920 – November 14, 2009) was a United States Army officer who was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Korean War for leading the last major American bayonet charge.

He enlisted in the United States National Guard while still in high school and then in 1940 joined the United States Army Air Corps. When he thought that the United States would not participate in World War II, he deserted and went to Canada with a friend where they joined the Canadian Army and were sent to London. He served briefly with the Canadian Forces in London but soon transferred to the United States Army, which had since joined the war. While serving with the army in World War II, he received a Silver Star for driving a burning ammunition truck away from a group of soldiers before it exploded. He later served in the Vietnam War and retired from the army in 1973. He died of congestive heart failure in 2009.

Early life Millett was born on December 15, 1920, in Mechanic Falls, Maine. and stripped of his leave privileges.

By February 7, 1951, Millett was serving in South Korea as a captain and commander of Company E of the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment. On that day, near Soam-Ni, he led his company in an assault on an enemy position atop Hill 180 near Songtan or Anyang. When one platoon became pinned down by heavy fire, Millett took another platoon forward, joined the two groups, and led them up the hill. Wielding his bayonet and throwing hand grenades, Millett yelled encouragement to his soldiers throughout the hand-to-hand fight. Upon reaching the top of the hill, his men stormed the enemy position and forced the opposing soldiers to withdraw. Although wounded in the shin by grenade fragments, Millett refused to be evacuated until the position was secured. In the mid-1960s, he commanded the Army Security Agency training center at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Park College (now known as Park University) in Missouri. This hill was previously believed to be the location of where he led the legendary bayonet charge. Additional research supports that the location of the battle was actually north of Suwon, near Anyang.

In 2009, a park in San Jacinto, California, was named in honor of Millett. The life size diorama of Millett's charge up Hill 180 during the Korean War that resulted in his receipt of the Medal of Honor. The diorama is at the US Army Infantry Museum, Ft. Benning, GA.