Robert D Reem
Robert was born on the 20th of October, 1925, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and went to Elizabethtown High School. During his senior year, he was a page in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and he graduated in June of 1943. Robert got married to Donna Mayo and then enlisted in the US Marine Corps in August of 1943. After completing recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina, Robert was then selected for an appointment to the Naval Academy and he entered the Academy in June of 1944, but not before attending the Naval Academy Preparatory School at the Naval Training Center in Bainbridge, Maryland.
Four years later, Robert graduated from the Naval Academy and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant before attending the Basic School at Quantico, Virginia, where he remained with the Special Training Regiment until August of 1949. Robert was then assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division that would travel to the Mediterranean. His battalion would be ordered to Korea in August of 1950 where it would join the 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division and Robert would serve in the Inchon Landing, the capture of Seoul, and the advance to the Chosin Reservoir. It was his actions while preparing his men for an assault that would cost him his life and earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Platoon Commander in Company H, Third Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment, First Marine Division (Reinforced), in action against enemy aggressor forces in the vicinity of Chinhung-ni, Korea, on November 6, 1950. Grimly determined to dislodge a group of heavy enemy infantry units occupying well-concealed and strongly fortified positions on commanding ground overlooking unprotected terrain, Second Lieutenant Reem moved slowly forward up the side of the ridge with his platoon in the face of a veritable hail of shattering hostile machine-gun, grenade and rifle fire. Three times repulsed by a resolute enemy force in achieving his objective, and pinned down by the continuing fury of hostile fire, he rallied and regrouped the heroic men in his depleted and disorganized platoon in preparation for a fourth attack. Issuing last-minute orders to his non-commissioned officers when an enemy grenade landed in a depression of rocky ground in which the group was standing, Second Lieutenant Reem unhesitatingly chose to sacrifice himself and, springing upon the deadly missile, absorbed the full impact of the explosion in his own body, thus protecting others from serious injury and possible death. Stout-hearted and indomitable, he readily yielded his own chance of survival so that his subordinate leaders might live. His decisiveness and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of certain death reflect the highest credit upon Second Lieutenant Reem and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
Robert's wife accepted his Medal of Honor on the 8th of February, 1952 from the Secretary of the Navy. He was first buried in the United Nations Cemetery in North Korea but he returned to the States and Robert Dale Reem is now buried in Arlington National Cemetery: Section 6, Grave 9376-B.
