Herman Abady

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Second Lieutenant Herman Abady, United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as Platoon Leader, Company K, Third Battalion, First Marines, FIRST Marine Division on Guadalcanal, British Solomon Islands. On 13 and 14 September 1942, Second Lieutenant Abady's platoon was deployed straddling an overland trail and bore the brunt of the attack on the company's positions from a detachment from the Japanese Army's Kuma Battalion whose objective was Henderson Field and the FIRST Division Command Post which were located approximately a half mile to the rear. Enemy Japanese soldiers with fixed bayonets penetrated the barbed wire less than 200 feet in front of the platoon's position, and entered the unit's foxholes where vicious hand-to-hand combat ensued. At one point, Second Lieutenant Abady took a position behind a banyan tree and succeeded in killing several Japanese soldiers with his .45 caliber pistol. As a result of his direction and encouragement, the Marines held their positions against the intense enemy onslaught and kept the enemy from reaching their objective. At daybreak, some 30 bodies of enemy soldiers lay around the platoon's defensive positions and an additional 30 bodies were entangled in the barbed wire in front of the platoon's position. By his extraordinary heroism, superb courage, and loyal devotion to duty, Second Lieutenant Abady reflected great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Action Date: September 13 & 14, 1942
Service: Marine Corps
Rank: Second Lieutenant
Company: Company K
Battalion: 3d Battalion
Regiment: 1st Marines
Division: 1st Marine Division
Birth: 1919
Death: Mar. 2, 2001
Burial: Forest Lawn Cemetery and Mausoleum, Richmond, Henrico County, Virginia, USA