This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Cpl Robert Rohrer (Bob)
to remember
Marine MGySgt John Boitnott.
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Contact Info
Last Address Dawson Springs, Kentucky
Date of Passing Oct 13, 2008
Location of Interment Jacksonville Memory Gardens - Orange Park, Florida
Wall/Plot Coordinates Garden of the Masonic
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Svc# 313233
12 Jul 1941 - Sep 1941
Enlisted - MCRD Sn Diego, CA Oct 1941
(Pvt) Sea School, MCRD San Diego, CA Oct 1941 - Jan 1942
(Pvt)Â Marine Detachment, U S S Chicago, Pearl Harbor (WIA) Jan 1942 - Feb 1942
(Pvt)Â Marine Detachment, U S S Chicago, Pearl Harbor Feb 1942 - Apr 1942
(Pvt) Marine Detachment, USS Astoria Apr 1942 - Jul 1942
(Pvt)Â Marine Detachment, U.S.S. Yorktown, Operating Pacific Area Jul 1942 - Oct 1942
(Pvt)Â Marine Detachment, U.S.S. Saratoga. Oct 1942 - Jul 1943
(PFC)Â Company B, Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, Pearl Harbor Jul 1943 - Jan 1944
(PFC) Sea School Detachment, Marine Barracks, Nnyd, Portsmouth, Virginia (Instructor) Jan 1944 - Dec 1945
(PFC - Cpl) MarDet, USS Hornet CV-12 (WIA) Dec - Jan 1946
(Cpl)(606) Rifle Range Detachment, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia (Instructor) Jan 1946 - Jul 1948
(Sgt)Â Headquarters, Northeastern Recruiting Division, Buffalo, NY. (Recruiter) Jul 1948 - Jul 1949
(Sgt) Weapons Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina Jul 1949 - Apr 1950
(Sgt-SSgt)Â Guard Co, Headquarters & Service Battalion, Marine Barracks, Camp Lejeune, NC Apr 1950 - Apr 1952
(SSgt)Â Wpns Trng Bn Mcrdep, Parris Island Sc (PMI) Apr 1952 - Oct 1952
(SSgt)(5849) Co I, 3Rd Battalion 5Th Marines, 1St Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force
(Apr 1952 -WIA - Jul 1952 WIA -Â 9 Kills)Â Korea 10 Aug 1952
Meritorious Promotion to Tech Sergeant Oct 1952 - Oct 1953
(TSgt)Â Mb Nas Mps Tenn, Memphis Tenn Oct 1953 - Jul 1956
(TSgt)Â Mp Co Hqbn 2Ndmardiv Fmf, Mri 2 Camp Lejeune N C Jul 1956 - Jan 1958
(TSgt-MSgt)Â Mar Air Base Sq 31 Mag 31 Reinf Afmfl,Mri Cherry Point Jan 1958 - Mar 1958
(MSgt)Â I-I Staff 2D Truck Co Mcr, N and Mcrtc Po Box 298 Augusta Ga (Criminal Investigator School) Apr 1958 - Jul 1959
(MSgt) Mabs 31 Mag 31 Reinf Afafl, Cherry Point, NC Jul 1959 - Jul 1963
(MSgt) Joint Chiefs, Pentagaon Secruity Detail Jul 1963 - Jul 1966
(MGySgt) Criminal Investigation Division Jul 1966 - Jul 1971
(MGySgt) Law Enforcement Bn, Marine Forces Reserve Jul 1971
Retired - MGySgt
Other Comments:
He was wounded during the attack on Pearl Harbor, fought at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and became the most famous Marine sniper of the Korean War . . .
By the time John E. Boitnott, a 30-year-old SSgt from Dawson Creek, Kentucky, left Korea for the United States in late July 1952, he had become a legend.
The Marine Corps sniper, who had earned a Bronze Star with Combat V, Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V, and six purple hearts, two combat action ribbons and numerous campaign medals for his service in WWII and Korea had also gained national attention for his unorthodox - but highly effective - method of taking out communist soldiers.
During a two-day period in 1952, Boitnott, assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, used his M1C Garand sniper rifle to make nine confirmed kills with nine shots, an extraordinary feat of marksmanship, considering the firing conditions, rifles, and scopes used at the time.
But it wasnâ??t just Boitnott's outstanding shooting that earned him so much notoriety. It was the way he acquired targets. And that's where his seemingly fearless assistant, PFC Henry Friday, came into play.
The hard-charging PFC was not only an observer/spotter, but he frequently volunteered to do something most people would consider downright crazy.
Acting as a live decoy, he would calmly and courageously walk along his company's lines - fully exposing himself to enemy fire - while Boitnott zeroed in on the unsuspecting Chinese snipers trying pick off the young Marine.
The plan worked brilliantly . . . and Friday was never hit.
With war correspondents showing up to cover the extraordinary story, Boitnott and Friday appeared in newspapers across America. But top-ranking Marine officers, worried that Friday was taking unnecessary risks, also appeared on the scene and soon put an end to the two-man operation.
But Boitnott wasn't finished. According to records kept by 5th Marines, he continued his deadly streak, earning eight more confirmed kills before being severely being wounded by enemy rifle and mortar fire. He returned home, recovered from his wounds, and eventually married and had three children.
Postscript:
Boitnott, who had joined the Marines just months before the attack on Pearl Harbor and fought at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, told people that after a Chinese sniperâ??s bullet struck him in his helmet in Korea, he vowed to take out as many enemy soldiers as possible, knowing that for every Chinese sniper he killed, he would save at least one Marine's life.
Boitnott retired from the Marine Corps as a Master Gunnery Sergeant in 1971 after 30 years of service and passed away in his sleep on October 13, 2008 at the age of 86.
Today we pay tribute to John Boitnott, Henry Friday, their families, and all the American snipers who have served, sacrificed, and died during our country's wars. Their remarkable skills, bravery, and dedication undoubtedly saved hundreds of young Americans lives . . .
Lest we forget.
Â
Korean War/Second Korean Winter (1951-52)
From Month/Year
November / 1951
To Month/Year
April / 1952
Description As 1951 drew to a close, a lull had settled over the battlefield. Fighting tapered off to a routine of patrol clashes, raids, and bitter small-unit struggles for key outpost positions. The lull resulted from Ridgway's decision to halt offensive operations in Korea, because the cost of major assaults on the enemy's defenses would be more than the results could justify. Furthermore, the possibility of an armistice agreement emerging from the recently reopened talks ruled out the mounting of any large-scale offensive by either side. On 21 November Ridgway ordered the Eighth Army to cease offensive operations and begin an active defense of its front. Attacks were limited to those necessary to strengthen the main line of resistance and to establish an adequate outpost line.
In the third week of December the U.S. 45th Division, the first National Guard division to fight in Korea, replaced the 1st Cavalry Division in the I Corps sector north of Seoul. The 1st Cavalry Division returned to Japan.
In the air, U.N. bombers and fighter-bombers continued the interdiction campaign (Operation STRANGLE, which the Far East Air Forces had begun on 15 August 1951) against railroad tracks, bridges, and highway traffic. At sea, naval units of nine nations tightened their blockade around the coastline of North Korea. Carrier-based planes blasted railroads, bridges, and boxcars, and destroyers bombarded enemy gun emplacements and supply depots. On the ground, the 155-mile front remained generally quiet in the opening days of 1952. Later in January the Eighth Army opened a month-long artillery-air campaign against enemy positions, which forced the enemy to dig in deeply. During March and April Van Fleet shifted his units along the front to give the ROK Army a greater share in defending the battle line and to concentrate American fire power in the vulnerable western sector.
