[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17376]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    HEROISM OF HERBERT A. LITTLETON

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, today the citizens of South Dakota are 
honoring the heroism of Herbert A. Littleton, a 20-year-old Marine 
Corps private who died while performing acts of gallantry that earned 
him the Congressional Medal of Honor.
  Private First Class Littleton enlisted in Black Hawk, South Dakota, 
and served as a radio operator during the Korean War with the U.S. 
Marine Corps Reserve, Company C, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine 
Division (Reinforced). This is the same Marine division that turned the 
course of the Korean War with its successful landing behind enemy lines 
at Inchon, Korea, 50 years ago this month.
  Seven months after the Inchon landing, Private First Class 
Littleton's unit was in Chungchon, Korea. On the night of April 22, 
1951, Private Littleton, a radio operator with an artillery forward 
observation team, was standing watch. Suddenly Company C's position 
came under attack from a well concealed and numerically superior enemy 
force. Private First Class Littleton quickly alerted his team and moved 
into position to begin calling down artillery fire on the hostile 
force. But as his comrades arrived to assist, an enemy hand grenade was 
thrown into their midst. Private First Class Littleton unhesitatingly 
hurled himself on the grenade, absorbing its full, shattering impact 
with his own body and saving the other members of his team from serious 
injury or death.
  Following Private First Class Littleton's heroic death, the President 
of the United States awarded him our nation's highest military award 
for bravery. The official citation says: ``His indomitable valor in the 
face of almost certain death reflects the highest credit upon Pfc. 
Littleton and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for 
his country.''
  Mr. President, today Governor Bill Janklow dedicated a granite 
memorial to Private First Class Littleton in Spearfish, South Dakota, 
near the town where this young man signed up to serve his country. This 
is a dignified and fitting tribute. But there is another memorial to 
Private First Class Littleton on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, 
where a small, impoverished colony has blossomed into the Republic of 
Korea: a peaceful, democratic society that ranks as one of the great 
economic success stories of the 20th Century. His sacrifice helped make 
all this possible.
  With this statement before the United States Senate, I join in 
saluting Private First Class Littleton. As we conduct the nation's 
affairs in this chamber of the United States Capitol, we would do well 
to remember Private First Class Littleton. In our every deed, let the 
members of this body bear in mind the lesson of courage, honor, and 
personal sacrifice offered to us by a 20-year-old man fighting for his 
country in the darkness, far from home.

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