January 30, 2006
Marine’s selfless act earned Medal of Honor
By Keith A. Milks
Special to the Times

A heroic act during the Korean War earned one Marine the nation’s highest medal for valor.

Pfc. Eugene Arnold Obregon, a native of Los Angeles, joined the Marine Corps in June 1948 at the age of 17.

At the outbreak of the Korean War, Obregon was plucked from Marine Corps Supply Depot Barstow, Calif., and sent to Camp Pendleton to fill out the ranks of the newly formed 1st Marine Provisional Brigade as a machine-gun ammunition carrier with Golf Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines.

In the summer of 1950, Obregon found himself in desperate fighting to hold the Pusan Perimeter at the southern tip of South Korea.

He fought there for nearly a month until his unit was sent up the western coast to make a landing at Inchon.

Pushing inland with 3/5, Obregon and his good friend Bert Johnson were soon thrust into the bloody, street-by-street battle for the South Korean capital, Seoul.

On Sept. 26, the two Marines were advancing with their unit down a wide street toward Seoul’s Changkok Palace when an unseen North Korean machine gun opened up.

Johnson immediately went down in the hail of bullets, struck in both legs, the right arm, side and head.

Unhesitatingly, Obregon left the cover he had found and raced to help his fallen friend. Firing his pistol as he ran, the 19-year-old grabbed Johnson and dragged him from the machine gun’s line of fire to a nearby curb.

Though still under fire, he had just started bandaging Johnson’s wounds when a platoon of North Koreans charged the Marines’ exposed position.

Obregon took up Johnson’s carbine and positioned his body to shield his wounded comrade from the enemy’s fire. Obregon then poured well-aimed, deadly fire into the attacking enemy soldiers until he was struck by enemy fire and mortally wounded — rounds that no doubt would have struck Johnson had Obregon abandoned him.

Within minutes, leathernecks with 5th Marines pushed forward and destroyed the remaining enemy fighters, evacuated the badly wounded Johnson and recovered Obregon’s body.

For the act that saved Johnson’s life and his role in repelling the enemy attack, Obregon was recommended for the Medal of Honor.

On Aug. 30, 1951, Peter and Henrietta Obregon accepted the medal for their son from Secretary of the Navy Dan Kimball.

In the years since Obregon’s death, his name has been affixed to at least three parks, an American Legion post, a barracks at Camp Pendleton, a Los Angeles high school and a maritime pre-positioning ship in the Military Sealift Command.

According to an article online at www.medalof honor.com, Johnson lived for 44 years after that fateful day in Seoul.

According to friends, “Never did a day go by when Bobo [Johnson] didn’t think of Gene Obregon and the price he paid to give Bert back his life.”

The writer is a gunnery sergeant currently deployed to Iraq with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Ellie