Elbert Luther Kinser
Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps
Medal of Honor Recipient
World War II

Sergeant Elbert Luther Kinser (21 October 1922 - 4 May 1945) was a U.S. Marine who was posthumously awarded the U.S. military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his heroic actions and self-sacrifice on Okinawa during World War II.

Elbert Luther Kinser was born in Greeneville, TN, on 21 October 1922. He worked on his father's farm prior to joining the Marine Corps.

Marine Corps Service

Kinser enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in December 1942 and received his recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SC. He sailed from the U.S. in March 1943, and joined the 7th Replacement Battalion in Pago Pago, Tutuila, American Samoa. Later, that battalion joined the 1st Marine Division in Melbourne, Australia, and Kinser was assigned to Company I, 1st Marines. Action with the 1st Marines followed at Cape Gloucester, New Britain, and later at Peleliu, Palau Islands.

On Easter Sunday, 1 April 1945, Sgt Kinser landed with his unit at Okinawa. On 4 May 1945, Sergeant Kinser was acting as a leader of a rifle platoon, serving with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, in action on Okinawa. During a fierce hand grenade battle, a Japanese grenade landed in the immediate vicinity of Sgt Kinser and his men. He unhesitatingly threw himself on the deadly missile, absorbing the full charge of the shattering explosion with his body, thereby protecting his men from serious injury and possible death. For this selfless action he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Medal of Honor

Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

Place and date: Okinawa Shima, Ryukyu Chain, 4 May 1945.

Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while acting as leader of a Rifle Platoon, serving with Company I, 3d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, in action against Japanese forces on Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 4 May 1945. Taken under sudden, close attack by hostile troops entrenched on the reverse slope while moving up a strategic ridge along which his platoon was holding newly won positions, Sgt. Kinser engaged the enemy in a fierce hand grenade battle. Quick to act when a Japanese grenade landed in the immediate vicinity, Sgt. Kinser unhesitatingly threw himself on the deadly missile, absorbing the full charge of the shattering explosion in his own body and thereby protecting his men from serious injury and possible death. Stouthearted and indomitable, he had yielded his own chance of survival that his comrades might live to carry on the relentless battle against a fanatic enemy. His courage, cool decision and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of certain death sustained and enhanced the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Sergeant Kinser's Medal of Honor was presented to his parents by Major General Clifton B. Cates (future Commandant of the Marine Corps) on 4 July 1946 in Greeneville, Tennessee.

Medals and Awards

Medal of Honor
Purple Heart
Presidential Unit Citation
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal

Death and Burial

Sergeant Elbert Luther Kinser was killed in action on 4 May 1945. He was initially buried in the 1st Marine Division Cemetery on Okinawa, but his remains were returned to the U.S. in early 1949 for re-internment. His final resting place is the Solomon Lutheran Cemetery in Greeneville, TN.