Robert D. Reem

Second Lieutenant Robert Dale Reem (October 20, 1925 – November 6, 1950) was a United States Marine Corps officer who posthumously received the United States' highest military decoration — the Medal of Honor — for his heroic actions during the advance to the Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War; he threw himself on an enemy grenade, sacrificing his life to save his men.

Biography

Robert Dale Reem was born on October 20, 1925, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Elizabethtown High School in June 1943. During his final year of high school, he was a page in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from January to May 1943.

He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in August 1943, completed his recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina, in October and was selected for appointment to the Naval Academy at that time. He attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School at the Naval Training Center, Bainbridge, Maryland, before entering the academy in June 1944. (Admiral Stockdale received one for Vietnam War service, but was a 1946 graduate.) Reem is memorialized at the US Naval Academy with a special dormitory room, the Reem room, with brass plaque.

Medal of Honor citation The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

for service as set forth in the following CITATION: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Platoon Commander in Company H, Third Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment, First Marine Division (Reinforced), in action against enemy aggressor forces in the vicinity of Chinhung-ni, Korea, on November 6, 1950. Grimly determined to dislodge a group of heavy enemy infantry units occupying well-concealed and strongly fortified positions on commanding ground overlooking unprotected terrain, Second Lieutenant Reem moved slowly forward up the side of the ridge with his platoon in the face of a veritable hail of shattering hostile machine-gun, grenade and rifle fire. Three times repulsed by a resolute enemy force in achieving his objective, and pinned down by the continuing fury of hostile fire, he rallied and regrouped the heroic men in his depleted and disorganized platoon in preparation for a fourth attack. Issuing last-minute orders to his non-commissioned officers when an enemy grenade landed in a depression of rocky ground in which the group was standing, Second Lieutenant Reem unhesitatingly chose to sacrifice himself and, springing upon the deadly missile, absorbed the full impact of the explosion in his own body, thus protecting others from serious injury and possible death. Stout-hearted and indomitable, he readily yielded his own chance of survival so that his subordinate leaders might live. His decisiveness and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of certain death reflect the highest credit upon Second Lieutenant Reem and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country. /S/HARRY S. TRUMAN

Awards and Decorations 2LT Reem's awards include: