PRIVATE
JOSEPH WILLIAM OZBOURN, USMCR (DECEASED) 
 

Medal of Honor Citation

Private Joseph William Ozbourn was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for sacrificing his life to save his comrades on Tinian in the Marianas, 30 July 1944.

Joseph Ozbourn was born in Herrin, Illinois, 24 October 1919. He attended grammar school in Buckner, Illinois, and subsequently became a trip rider in the mines for the Old Ben Coal Corporation in West Frankfurt, Illinois. He enlisted in the Marine Corps 30 October 1943.

He died after hurling himself on a live hand grenade thus saving the lives of four companions. For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

The Destroyer Ozbourn was commissioned 5 March 1946 at the Boston Naval Shipyard, by Pvt Ozbourn's widow. The ship had been christened by Mrs. Ozbourn 22 December 1945, at the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine.

Private Ozbourn was initially buried in Tinian, Marianas Islands, but later his remains were reinterred in the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

World War II 1941-1945 Medal of Honor