John Henry Quick

Retired Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant, now a software developer. French and Indian War reenactor and artillerist, now doing Cowboy Action Shooting and loving it!

I chose the name of John Henry Quick because he joined the Marine Corps on my birthday in 1892.  He was awarded the Medal of Honor when he was a Gunnery Sergeant in 1898 during the Spanish-American War for his actions at Guantanamo Bay  (ninety years later I was at Guantanamo Bay and I was a Gunnery Sergeant, though I did not earn a Medal of Honor...  ). 

Quick was also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy Cross during World War I for his actions at the Battle of Belleau Wood.  It is now a century later and every Marine knows about the Battle of Belleau Wood.  We call each other Devil Dogs because the Germans started calling the men of the 6th Marine Regiment "Teufelhunden" which more literally means "Dogs from Hell." 

A 19th Century man showing Europeans what American bravery looks like, much to their dismay.  Many men have made the ultimate sacrifice by making a split-second decision to save their mates by doing something like jumping on a grenade, etc.  I am in awe of that because the older I get the less sure I am that I could do it.  For me, John Henry Quick stands out even above the others because he was not in immediate danger, and yet he calmly chose to brave withering fire that no one else would and continued doing so until the mission was accomplished and his entire unit was saved from destruction not once, but twice. 

Where does such courage come from?  I have thought about changing my alias because I certainly don't deserve any comparison with him, but I have decided to keep using it because I want him to be remembered.  He was a hero of the highest order who unfortunately has largely been forgotten.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_H._Quick