In 1942, "the strongest machine gunner in World War II" Baslon took a rare photo, in front of the camera, Baslon was handsome, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, wearing a military uniform, smiling, confident and calm!
Baslon is a legendary combat hero of the United States Marine Corps during World War II, he led a team of 15 people in the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, in the defensive position, not only withstood the crazy onslaught of 3,000 Japanese troops, which frustrated the Japanese offensive and suffered heavy casualties, but also bought time for reinforcements, and finally annihilated the 3,000 Japanese troops together with the reinforcements, and achieved the final victory of the battle.
After the war, the American combat recorder counted the battlefield and was shocked to find that in this battle to block the Japanese charge, Baslon only killed nearly 2,000 Japanese soldiers with only two M1917 heavy machine guns and a pistol, and Baslon was also known as "the strongest machine gunner in World War II" with his outstanding performance in this blocking battle.
Born in Buffalo, New York, to Italian immigrants, Baslon was a playful child who didn't like to read as a child, which led to Baslon just finishing junior high school and going out to work.
In 1931, at the age of 15, Basloan first came to work as a caddy at a country golf club, but after working for a while, Basloan found the job too boring and did not make much money, so he quit the job and came to Buffalo, New York, to take up a job as a parking car.
In 1934, when Baslon was 18 years old, and Baslon's parents saw that Baslon was engaged in a job that had no prospects for development and could not teach the young Baslon anything, Baslon's parents decided to send Baslon to the army to train him and hone his character.
So, in June of the same year, Baslon joined the army and served in the U.S. Army, starting his "career" as a soldier.
After joining the army, Baslong changed the bad habits and bad habits he had developed in entertainment venues, and in the army, he practiced conscientiously, abided by military discipline, and became an excellent soldier of the United States Army.
In 1937, at the age of 21, after three years of military service, Baslon returned to Maryland to work as a truck driver transporting goods.
The job of a truck driver, although it can give Baslon a very considerable income, but this job is very boring, and the working hours are much longer than other industries, and the long irregular diet and rest make Baslon very irritable, in addition, Baslon drives the truck alone for a long time, and lacks communication and interaction with others, which makes him have a strong sense of loneliness and psychological problems, which makes Baslon painful.
And after working as a truck driver for several months, Basilon chose to end this boring life, returned to the army, and joined the U.S. Marine Corps in the port of Baltimore, Maryland.
After returning to the U.S. Army, Baslon, who spent a period of training at the Marine Corps Recruit Station, was assigned to serve at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
When the Pacific War broke out in 1941, in October of the following year, Baslon's 1st Marine Division was ordered to go to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands of the South Pacific to fight the Japanese.
On October 24, 1942, Basilon was ordered to defend the U.S. position east of Henderson Field with 14 soldiers of the 1st Marine Division.
Soon after, the Japanese army gathered a force of more than 3,000 people, and under the cover of artillery, launched a fierce attack on the American defensive positions defended by Baslon and others.
In the face of a strong Japanese attack, Baslons led 14 soldiers of the 1st Marine Division of the United States Marine to repel more than 3,000 Japanese attacks again and again based on trenches and fortifications.
When the Japanese commander saw that the offensive had been frustrated, he became angry, and when he ordered the artillery to launch a more frantic artillery bombardment of the defensive positions held by Baslon and others, and after the shelling stopped, the Japanese army launched a "suicidal charge" against the defensive positions held by Baslon and others.
Under the Japanese charge and attack, 12 of the 14 soldiers of the 1st Marine Division led by Baslond were killed, while he and two other soldiers continued to hold their positions and engage in a final battle to the death with the Japanese.
From October 24th to October 28th, on the eve of the arrival of the American army, Baslon and the two soldiers of the 1st Marine Division of the US Army successfully completed the task and blocked the 3,000 Japanese troops outside Henderson Airport.
On October 28, when American reinforcements arrived one after another, they were stunned by the sight of the corpses of Japanese soldiers everywhere, and the only thing left in the American defensive position was machine gunner Baslon and two wounded soldiers of the 1st Marine Division.
At this time, Baslone's eyes were already red, and his hands were seriously burned by the hot machine gun barrel, and in his current U.S. military blockade battle against the Japanese army, he used two M1917 heavy machine guns to shoot nearly 30,000 rounds of bullets, killing nearly 2,000 Japanese soldiers, becoming the heavy machine gunner who annihilated the most enemy soldiers during World War II.
This battle made Baslon famous and became a household name among Americans, and the U.S. military awarded him the Medal of Honor for his performance in the Battle of Guadalcanal.
After the Battle of Guadalcanal, Baslon, as a battle hero, returned to the United States and was welcomed and sought after by the American people.
Originally, Baslone, who received the U.S. Military Medal of Honor, did not need to return to the battlefield according to military regulations, but Baslon made it clear to the U.S. military that he wanted to return to the battlefield and continue to fight bloody battles against the Japanese army with his comrades.
Seeing Baslon's resolute attitude, the U.S. military respected his wishes, rearranged him into the ranks, and participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, this time Iwo Jima, the U.S. Army as the attacker, launched an attack on the defensive positions of the Japanese army, at that time, as a platoon commander, Baslon charged ahead, with his agile skills, with explosives to blow up a Japanese pillbox, just when he led his comrades to attack the Japanese airfield, a shell hit him, and in this way, the legendary machine gunner died heroically on Iwo Jima。
After Baslone's death, the U.S. military posthumously awarded him the Navy Cross in recognition of his fighting spirit, making Baslon the only Marine in World War II history to receive both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.
Later, Baslone's body was transported back to the United States and buried in Arlington National Cemetery, while the American director filmed the war series "The Pacific" in honor of the legendary machine gunner, in which the protagonist was portrayed based on Baslone.