Honoring Oconee County SC’s Only Medal of Honor Recipient

Lewis G. Watkins was born June 7, 1925, in Seneca, South Carolina. In 1943 during World War II he joined the United States Navy before completing high school. Watkins served on various Navy ships in the Pacific during the war, reaching the rank of Gunners Mate 3rd Class (GM3). After his discharge from the Navy in 1947 he returned to South Carolina to complete high school in Greenville and later became a police officer with the Greenville Police Department. On September 12, 1950 he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps knowing he would be sent to Korea.

After completion of Recruit Training at MCRD Parris Island, South Carolina on November 17, 1950, he served at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and Camp Pendleton, California before going to Korea. Watkins was assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division in Korea.

On October 7, 1952, Staff Sergeant Watkins’ platoon was assigned to retake outpost “Frisco” from the enemy. During the final attack, Staff Sergeant Lewis G. Watkins, despite earlier wounds, took an automatic rifle from a more badly injured Marine and opened fire on the enemy machine gun position holding up the assault. When a Chinese grenade landed among his men, he shoved them aside, picked up the grenade, and attempted to throw it at the enemy. The grenade exploded in his hand and wounded him mortally. His official Medal of Honor citation reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a guide of a rifle platoon of Company I, in action against enemy aggressor forces during the hours of darkness on the morning of October 7, 1952. With his platoon assigned the mission of retaking an outpost which had been overrun by the enemy earlier in the night, S/Sgt. Watkins skillfully led his unit in the assault up the designated hill. Although painfully wounded when a well-entrenched hostile force at the crest of the hill engaged the platoon with intense small-arms and grenade fire, he gallantly continued to lead his men. Obtaining an automatic rifle from one of the wounded men, he assisted in pinning down an enemy machine gun holding up the assault. When an enemy grenade landed among Staff Sergeant Watkins and several other Marines while they were moving forward through a trench on the hill crest, he immediately pushed his companions aside, placed himself in a position to shield them and picked up the deadly missile in an attempt to throw it outside the trench. Mortally wounded when the grenade exploded in his hand, Staff Sergeant Watkins, by his great personal valor in the face of almost certain death, saved the lives of several of his comrades and contributed materially to the success of the mission. His extraordinary heroism, inspiring leadership, and resolute spirit of self-sacrifice reflect the highest credit upon himself and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.”

/S/ DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER President of the United States

Watkins remains were never recovered and he is formally listed as buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl) (Wall of the Missing) in Honolulu, Hawaii.

His family honored him with a headstone in the family burial plot at the Wolf Stake Baptist Church cemetery in Seneca, South Carolina in Oconee County.

His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Watkins, received notification that their son had been awarded the nation’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, in a letter from General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., Commandant of the Marine Corps. The Watkins family later donated the medal to the Military Museum at Patriots Hall in Walhalla, South Carolina. Lewis Watkins is Oconee County’s only Medal of Honor recipient. The postal facility in Seneca, South Carolina was designated by law as the Staff Sergeant Lewis G. Watkins Post Office Building. In addition to the local Marine Corps League Detachment, the Walhalla Disabled American Veterans Walhalla, SC chapter also bears Watkins’ name.