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thedrifter
10-10-03, 08:51 AM
Park Dedicated to Hispanic Medal of Honor recipient
Submitted by: MCLB Barstow
Story Identification Number: 2003109163320
Story by Lance Cpl. Andy J. Hurt



MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif.(Oct. 9, 2003) -- There is a little known area at the MCLB Barstow Yermo Annex, where all base personnel can congregate and enjoy the high desert atmosphere, seldom discussed.

A park just inside the main gate at Yermo that is dedicated to the memory of a great American hero, Pfc. Eugene A. Obregon, just one of the countless Hispanic Marines who gave his life for his country, and one of 38 Hispanic Medal of Honor recipients.

Obregon, an East Los Angeles native, joined the Marines at the tender age of 17, along with four friends. He was stationed aboard MCLB Barstow from 1948-1950. He was a member of the Base Fire Department.

After the breakout of the Korean War, Obregon received orders to the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, then being formed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, for further assignment to Korea.

It was on the streets of Seoul, on a cold September morning, when Obregon committed an uncommon act of bravery that cost him his life and earned him the Medal of Honor. His citation reads in part:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company G, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Division (Reinforced), in action against enemy aggressor forces at Seoul, Korea, on September 26, 1950.

"While serving as an ammunition carrier in a machine gun squad of a Marine rifle company which was temporarily pinned down by hostile fire, Pfc. Obregon observed a fellow Marine fall wounded in the line of fire. Armed only with a pistol, he unhesitatingly dashed from his covered position to the side of the casualty.

"Firing his pistol with one hand, and despite the great peril to himself, dragged the wounded man to the side of the road. Still under enemy fire, he was bandaging the man's wounds when hostile troops of approximately platoon strength began advancing toward his position.

"Quickly seizing the wounded Marine's carbine, he placed his own body as a shield on front of him and lay there, firing accurately and effectively into the hostile group until he himself was fatally wounded by enemy machine gun fire."

Obregon's mother, Henrietta, in later years, told a reporter the man whose life her son had saved confessed that before the incident he was prejudiced against Hispanic Americans.

Obregon Park here was dedicated 15 years after Obregon was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, on Nov. 12, 1965.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2003109163823/$file/obregonlow.jpg

Private First Class Eugene A. Obregon
Photo by: Marine Corps


http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/181DD3CECE6F411385256DBA0070EA89?opendocument

Sempers,

Roger
:marine: