Joseph J. McCarthy

Infobox Military Person
name= Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy
born= birth date|1911|8|10
died= death date and age|1996|6|5|1911|8|10
placeofbirth= Chicago, Illinois
placeofdeath= Palm Beach, Florida
placeofburial= Arlington National Cemetery


caption= Joseph J. McCarthy
nickname=
allegiance= United States of America
branch=United States Marine Corps
serviceyears= 1937-1941, 1942-1971
rank= Lieutenant Colonel, previously a First Sergeant
commands=
unit= 2nd Battalion 24th Marines
battles= World War II - Battle of Roi-Namur - Battle of Saipan - Battle of Tinian - Battle of Iwo Jima
awards= Medal of Honor Silver Star Purple Heart (x2)
laterwork= Chief, Chicago Fire Department

Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy (10 August 1911 – 15 June 1996) was a mustang officer in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, who served during World War II and the Korean War. He was also the Superintendent of Ambulances in the Chicago Fire Department,cite web
url= http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-m/j-mcarty.htm
title=Lieutenant Colonel Joseph J. McCarthy, USMCR, (1911-1996)
publisher=Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy
accessdate=2007-02-27] however, with respect for his wartime heroics, firefighters continued to address him by his wartime military rank of "Captain."cite web
url= http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=flf&GRid=9158&FLgrid=9158&
title=Joseph J. McCarthy (1911-1996)
work=Find A Grave Memorial
date=17 April 2000
publisher= www.findagrave.com
accessdate=2007-02-27]

Historian Bill D. Ross would write about him in 1985:

McCarthy was thirty three; overage for a company commander. He was Irish and he looked it: husky, red complexioned, pug nose. Superior officers sometimes found his manner abrasive, but unlike many Irishmen, he wasn't talkative. He was, in fact, laconic and tight-lipped. "I don't like malarkey or bullshit," the Chicagoan often said. 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."cite book
last =Ross
first =Bill D.
title =Iwo Jima: Legacy of Valor
publisher =Vanguard Press
year =1985
location =New York
pages =pp. 146-147
url = 0814908950]

The building that houses the headquarters of 2nd Battalion 24th Marines in Chicago is named in his honor. Lieutenant Colonel McCarthy was buried at Arlington National Cemeteryfindagrave|9158] following a funeral mass at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago.cite web
url= http://arlingtoncemetery.net/jjmccarthy.htm
title=Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Marine Corps
publisher=Arlington National Cemetery
accessdate=2007-02-27]

Marine Corps service

McCarthy first enlisted in the Marine Corps on 20 February 1937 in Chicago and served for four years. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he re-enlisted and returned to active duty in February 1942. In June of that year, he was discharged with the rank of first sergeant in order to accept a commission in the Marine Corps Reserve.

McCarthy joined the 4th Marine Division shortly thereafter, and went overseas in January 1944. While deployed, he took part in the Roi-Namur, Saipan-Tinian, and Iwo Jima campaigns. He was awarded the Silver Star for heroism as a rifle company commander on Saipan in 1944. He received the Purple Heart with Gold Star for wounds received in action on Saipan and Iwo Jima.

On 21 February 1945, as a captain, he earned the Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima, while leading an assault team across exposed ground to wipe out positions holding up the advance of his company. "I was scared all the time," McCarthy said later. "Any man tells you he wasn't scared was an imbecile. But you dealt with it."cite web
url= http://arlingtoncemetery.net/jjmccarthy.htm
title=Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy, Lieutenant Colonel, United Sates Marine Corps
publisher=Arlington National Cemetery
accessdate=2007-02-27] President Harry S. Truman presented the Medal of Honor to McCarthy in ceremonies at the White House, held on 5 October 1945. As Truman presented the Medal, he told McCarthy, "I'd rather have one of these than be President."cite web
url= http://arlingtoncemetery.net/jjmccarthy.htm
title=Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy, Lieutenant Colonel, United Sates Marine Corps
publisher=Arlington National Cemetery
accessdate=2007-02-27]

Released from active duty following the war, he held the grade of lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve.cite web
url= http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Whos_Who/McCarthy_JJ.htm
title=Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy, USMCR
work=Who's Who in Marine Corps History
publisher=History Division, United States Marine Corps
accessdate=2007-12-29]

After the war

In 1949, McCarthy drove from Maine to North Carolina visiting the families of 26 Marines who had been killed in action on Iwo Jima. Each one of them, he told the families, had been just as brave as he was, just not as lucky.cite web
url= http://arlingtoncemetery.net/jjmccarthy.htm
title=Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy, Lieutenant Colonel, United Sates Marine Corps
publisher=Arlington National Cemetery
accessdate=2007-02-27]

McCarthy was the Grand Marshall of the City of Chicago's St. Patrick's Day Parade in 1959.cite book
last =Bailey
first =Stephen M.
title =Souvenir Program: Chicago's 1961 Saint Patrick's Day Parade
publisher =Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago
year =1961
location =Chicago
page =p. 12
url =
doi =
id =]

McCarthy retired from the Marine Corps Reserve in 1971 and from the Chicago Fire Department in 1973. Thereafter, he and his wife split their time between homes in Wisconsin and Delray Beach, Florida. His wife, Anita, died in 1978. The couple had no children.cite web
url= http://arlingtoncemetery.net/jjmccarthy.htm
title=Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Marine Corps
publisher=Arlington National Cemetery
accessdate=2007-02-27]

"I would hope and pray there never be another Medal of Honor issued," he said in a 1992 interview. "I hope and pray there's never any more wars."cite web
url= http://arlingtoncemetery.net/jjmccarthy.htm
title=Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Marine Corps
publisher=Arlington National Cemetery
accessdate=2007-02-27]

Medal of Honor citation

The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to
CAPTAIN JOSEPH J. McCARTHY UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE
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 commanding officer of a rifle company attached to the 2d Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces during the seizure of Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, on 21 February 1945. Determined to break through the enemy's cross-island defenses, Capt. McCarthy acted on his own initiative when his company advance was held up by uninterrupted Japanese rifle, machine gun, and high-velocity 47mm. fire during the approach to Motoyama Airfield No. 2. Quickly organizing a demolitions and flamethrower team to accompany his picked rifle squad, he fearlessly led the way across 75 yards of fire-swept ground, charged a heavily fortified pillbox on the ridge of the front and, personally hurling hand grenades into the emplacement as he directed the combined operations of his small assault group, completely destroyed the hostile installation. Spotting 2 Japanese soldiers attempting an escape from the shattered pillbox, he boldly stood upright in full view of the enemy and dispatched both troops before advancing to a second emplacement under greatly intensified fire and then blasted the strong fortifications with a well-planned demolitions attack. Subsequently entering the ruins, he found a Japanese taking aim at 1 of our men and, with alert presence of mind, jumped the enemy, disarmed and shot him with his own weapon. Then, intent on smashing through the narrow breach, he rallied the remainder of his company and pressed a full attack with furious aggressiveness until he had neutralized all resistance and captured the ridge. An inspiring leader and indomitable fighter, Capt. McCarthy consistently disregarded all personal danger during the fierce conflict and, by his brilliant professional skill, daring tactics, and tenacious perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds, contributed materially to the success of his division's operations against this savagely defended outpost of the Japanese Empire. His cool decision and outstanding valor reflect the highest credit upon Capt. McCarthy and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.cite web|accessdate=2007-02-20
url=http://www.marines.mil/moh.nsf/000003c919889c0385255f980058f5b6/0000033ba9f47a7385255fa4004f4b82?
title=Capt JOSEPH J. MCCARTHY, Medal of Honor, 1945, 2/24/4, Iwo Jima (Medal of Honor citation)
work=Marines Awarded the Medal of Honor
publisher=History DivisionUnited States Marine Corps
archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070109145208/www.usmc.mil/moh.nsf/000003c919889c0385255f980058f5b6/0000033ba9f47a7385255fa4004f4b82?OpenDocument
archivedate=2007-01-09] cite web
url= http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-m/j-mcarty.htm/
title=Lieutenant Colonel Joseph J. McCarthy, USMCR, (1911-1996)
publisher=Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy
accessdate=2007-02-27]

Of note

*His military record lists his year of birth as 1911,cite web
url= http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-m/j-mcarty.htm/
title=Lieutenant Colonel Joseph J. McCarthy, USMCR, (1911-1996)
publisher=Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy
accessdate=2007-02-27] but it is inscribed as 1912 on his headstone.cite web
url= http://arlingtoncemetery.net/jjmccarthy.htm
title=Joseph Jeremiah McCarthy, Lieutenant Colonel, United Sates Marine Corps
publisher=Arlington National Cemetery
accessdate=2007-02-27]

ee also

*List of Medal of Honor recipients
*List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II
*List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Battle of Iwo Jima
*Battle of Iwo Jima
*2nd Battalion 24th Marines

Notes

References

:Marine Corps;Web
*cite web|url=http://www.marinecorpsgazette-digital.com/leatherneckmagazine/200612/?pg=6
accessdate=2007-02-28
title=Letter to the Editor
author=George J. Greene
month=December | year=2006
page=p. 6
work=Leatherneck Magazine Includes photo and comment on GySgt McCarthy.
*cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=12321 |accessdate=2007-02-28
title=Remarks at the Presentation of the Congressional Medal of Honor to Fourteen Members of the Navy and Marine Corps
author=President Harry S. Truman
date=5 October 1945
publisher=American Presidency Project
*cite web |accessdate=2007-02-28
author= McHale, Paul F. Jr.
authorlink=Paul F. McHale, Jr.
url=http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=1995_record&page=H2154&position=all
format=PDF
title=Citation read into the Congressional Record in on the occasion of Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Battle for Iwo Jima
work=Congressional Record, U.S. House of Representatives
page=Page H2154
date=23 February 1995
publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office

Further reading

*cite book
title=A Chicago Firehouse: Stories of Wrigleyville's Engine 78
author=Karen Kruse
publisher=Arcadia Publishing
year=2001
id=ISBN 0738518573 Includes background on McCarthy's Fire Department career.