Mitchell Paige
| Mitchell Paige | |
|---|---|
2nd Lt. Mitchell Paige
|
|
| Nickname(s) | Mitch |
| Born |
August 31, 1918 Charleroi, Pennsylvania |
| Died | November 15, 2003 (aged 85) La Quinta, California |
| Place of burial | Riverside National Cemetery |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1936–1959 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines |
| Battles/wars | Korean War |
| Awards |
Medal of Honor Purple Heart Presidential Unit Citation Eagle Scout |
Colonel Mitchell Paige (Serbian:Михајло Пејић/Mihajlo Pejić) (August 31, 1918 – November 15, 2003) was a recipient of the Medal of Honor from World War II. He received this, the highest military honor awarded by the United States of America, for his actions at the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands on October 26, 1942, where, after all of the other Marines in his platoon were killed or wounded, he operated four machine guns, singlehandedly stopping an entire Japanese regiment.
Paige was born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania. His parents were ethnic Serbs, immigrants from the Military Frontier of Austria-Hungary, originally surnamed Pejić. His mother kept him and his brother in touch with their roots, reminding them of the Battle of Kosovo, but also told them to be proud Americans. His family later moved to the Camden Hills neighborhood of West Mifflin. He graduated from McKeesport High School before enlisting in the US Marines.
Paige enlisted in the Marine Corps on September 1, 1936 at Baltimore, Maryland and completed his boot camp training at Parris Island, South Carolina. In November 1936, he was transferred to Quantico, Virginia and later served as a gunner aboard the USS Wyoming. While aboard the Wyoming he took part in maneuvers via Panama to San Clemente Island off the coast of California. In February 1937, he was transferred to Mare Island Navy Yard for guard duty, and two months later was ordered to Cavite in the Philippine Islands. While on Cavite he became a member of the All-Navy-Marine baseball team, which gained prominence throughout the Islands and the Orient. He served in China from October 1938 to September 1939 and during his tour he guarded American property during the famous Tientsin flood. He left North China and returned to the U.S. in April 1940 for guard duty at the Brooklyn and Philadelphia Navy Yards. In September 1940 he rejoined the 5th Marines, at Quantico, and the following month participated in maneuvers at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Culebra, Puerto Rico.
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