Douglas Albert Munro

Douglas Albert Munro
Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro, MOH, USCG
Born	(1919-10-11)October 11, 1919 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Died	September 27, 1942(1942-09-27) (aged 22) Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
Place of burial	Laurel Hill Memorial Park Cle Elum, Washington
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Coast Guard
Years of service	1939–1942
Rank	Signalman First Class
Battles/wars	World War II  • Second Battle of the Matanikau
Awards	Medal of Honor Purple Heart American Defense Service Medal American Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal

Douglas Albert Munro (October 11, 1919 – September 27, 1942) is the only member of the United States Coast Guard to have received the Medal of Honor, the United States's highest military award. Munro received the decoration posthumously for his actions as officer-in-charge of a group of landing craft on September 27, 1942, during the September Matanikau action in the Guadalcanal campaign of World War II.

Munro was born on October 11, 1919, in Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada, to James Munro, originally from California, and Edith Thrower Fairey from Liverpool, England. The Munro family (Douglas, Pat his sister elder by 2 years, and his parents) moved to Vancouver, Washington, in 1922, where his father worked as an electrician for Warren Construction Company. Douglas grew up in South Cle Elum, Washington. He was educated at South Cle Elum Grade School and graduated from Cle Elum High School in 1937. He attended Central Washington College of Education (now known as Central Washington University) for a year before leaving to enlist in the United States Coast Guard in 1939. He had an outstanding record as an enlisted man and was promoted rapidly through the ratings to a signalman, first class.

In the Second Battle of the Matanikau, part of the Guadalcanal Campaign, Munro was in charge of a detachment of ten boats which landed U.S. Marines at the scene. After successfully taking them ashore, he returned his boats to their previously assigned position and almost immediately learned that conditions ashore were different from what had been anticipated and that it was necessary to evacuate the Marines immediately. Munro volunteered for the job and brought the boats to shore under heavy enemy fire, then proceeded to evacuate the men on the beach. When most of them were in the boats, complications arose in evacuating the last men, whom Munro realized would be in the greatest danger. He accordingly placed himself and his boats such that they would serve as cover for the last men to leave. Among the Marines evacuated that day was Lt. Col. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC. During this action—protecting the men after he had evacuated them—Munro was fatally wounded. He remained conscious sufficiently long only to say four words: "Did they get off?"