Lieutenant Colonel Aquilla James Dyess (January 11, 1909 – February 2, 1944) was a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

officer who was a posthumous recipient of the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...

for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life" at the head of his troops during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, in the Battle of Kwajalein, on Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands on February 2, 1944.

Early life, education, and career

Aquilla James Dyess was born on January 11, 1909, in Andersonville, Georgia. As a youth, he attained the rank of

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

, highest in the

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are t ...

. Dyess graduated from Clemson College, Clemson, South Carolina, in 1932 with a Bachelor of Science degree in architecture. At Clemson, he served as a cadet major in the

Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in a ...

, and was appointed a second lieutenant in the Army Infantry Reserve in 1931. In civilian life, he was a general contractor. He also served as assistant director of a summer camp for boys.

Marines

Dyess was appointed a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve in November 1936 and was assigned to 19th Battalion, a reserve unit in Augusta Georgia. In 1937, 1st Lt. Dyess was awarded the bronze star as a shooting member of the Marine Corps Rifle Team, which won the Hilton trophy in the National matches, and was given the same award in 1938 as an alternate member of the team that captured the Rattlesnake trophy in the matches. On February 1, 1944, the day preceding Dyess's death, six U.S. Marine snipers were on patrol on Namur Island where Japanese forces had taken up protected positions following the Battle of Kwajalein. The Marine patrol had inadvertently moved behind enemy lines, surrounded on three sides by Japanese forces, where they came under small arms fire from a concealed position. One of the Marines was killed instantly, and four of the remaining five Marines sustained injuries from the attack. One of the injured Marines, Cpl. Frank Pokrop, later recalled, “with no protection and heavy fire coming at us from a few feet away and dusk approaching, we were certain to be killed. All of a sudden Col. Dyess broke through on the right, braving the very heavy fire, and got all of us out of there." Lieutenant Colonel Dyess was killed on February 2, 1944, by a burst of enemy machine gun fire while standing on the parapet of an anti-tank trench directing a group of infantry in a flanking attack against the last Japanese position in the northern part of Namur Island. In this final assault, Dyess posted himself between the opposing lines and, exposed to fire from heavy automatic weapons, led his troops in the advance. Wherever the attack was slowed by heavier enemy fire, he quickly appeared and placed himself at the head of his men and inspired them to push forward. Dyess was initially buried in the 4th Marine Division cemetery on Roi-Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. In 1948, he was re-interred in Westover Memorial Park Cemetery, Augusta, Georgia. Honor Board for Jimmie Dyess

Honors

Dyess was awarded a

for his actions. He is one of only nine known Eagle Scouts who also received the Medal of Honor. He is the only American to receive both the Carnegie Medal for civilian heroism and the Medal of Honor. In 1929, he had been awarded the Carnegie Medal for saving two swimmers off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1928.

Legacy

In 1945, the destroyer was named in honor of Dyess. The Georgia-Carolina Council of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded in ...

celebrates Dyess' life in a triennial Jimmie Dyess Days event at Fort Gordon. Georgia State Route 383, a four-lane highway from Interstate 20 near

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Geor ...

, to Fort Gordon is named Jimmie Dyess Parkway in his honor. In 2013, the Young Marines in Augusta, Georgia, area, were chartered and chose "Jimmie Dyess Young Marines" as the official name for their unit.

References

: * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dyess, Aquilla 1909 births 1944 deaths United States Marine Corps personnel killed in World War II Clemson University alumni United States Marine Corps officers People from Sumter County, Georgia World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor United States Marine Corps reservists Recipients of the Carnegie Medal (Carnegie Hero Fund) Academy of Richmond County alumni Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state)

Early life, education, and career

Marines

Honors

Legacy

See also

References