William D. Halyburton Jr.

William David Halyburton Jr. (October 2, 1924 – May 10, 1945) was a United States Navy hospital corpsman who was killed in action during World War II while assigned to a Marine Corps rifle company. He was posthumously awarded the nation's highest military decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor, for heroic actions "above and beyond the call of duty" on May 10, 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa.

Biography Born on August 2, 1924, in Canton, North Carolina, Halyburton attended Canton Presbyterian Church before moving to Wilmington, North Carolina where he graduated from New Hanover High School. He entered college at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, but left to enlist in the U.S. Naval Reserve on August 4, 1943. After completing the Fleet Marine Force Field Medical Service School at Camp Pendleton, California for combat field training, he departed on December 14 for the Pacific war zone on board the transport and joined the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.