William G. Windrich

At the outbreak of the Korean War, SSgt. Windrich was on military police duty at Camp Pendleton, California. He went overseas with the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade and was among the first Marines to see action in Korea. He participated in the Inchon landing and in the capture of Seoul. It was during the Chosin Reservoir Campaign while now serving as a rifle platoon sergeant with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, after the 1st Marine Division regrouped for its famous breakout to the sea, that he met his heroic death. His body was identified and was returned to the United States in 1955 for burial in Arlington National Cemetery.

The Medal of Honor, the United States' highest award for valor in combat, was presented to his widow by Secretary of the Navy Daniel A. Kimball during ceremonies on February 8, 1952, in Washington, D.C.

Staff Sergeant Windrich was killed in action the early morning of December 2, 1950 near Yudam-ni, North Korea, during a savage night battle with Chinese forces on Hill 1520. He had refused to be evacuated after being wounded twice, once when a grenade fragment ripped through his helmet. Later felled by gunshot wounds in the legs, he directed his men in setting up defensive positions and shouted words of encouragement until he succumbed to his wounds and the bitter cold. He was carried down from the hill and was buried. He is now buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

In the summer of 1946, he participated in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll while serving aboard the USS Mount McKinley. After World War II, he served as a non-commissioned officer of the guard in Washington, D.C., at the Naval Gun Factory and at Marine Corps Headquarters, and in China.

During World War II, he spent 20 months overseas in the South and Central Pacific as a machine gunner with the 2nd and 5th Defense Battalions and was on Tarawa. Discharged in November 1945, he reenlisted in the regular Marine Corps the following February.

He enlisted at seventeen in the Marine Corps Reserve on June 6, 1938, and was ordered to active duty in November 1940.

Staff Sergeant William Gordon Windrich (May 14, 1921 – December 2, 1950) was a United States Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for outstanding heroism as a platoon sergeant in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War.

William Windrich was born on May 14, 1921, in Chicago, Illinois. He attended public schools in Hammond, Indiana.