Samuel S. Coursen

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Samuel Streit Coursen
August 4, 1926(1926-08-04) – October 12, 1950 (aged 24)

Medal of Honor recipient
Place of birth Madison, New Jersey
Place of death Near Kaesong, Korea
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 1945-1950
Rank First Lieutenant
Unit Company C 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division
Battles/wars Korean War
Awards Medal of Honor
Purple Heart

Samuel Streit Coursen (August 4, 1926 – October 12, 1950) was a 1949 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and company commander in the United States Army during the Korean War. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on December 12, 1950.

Contents

[edit] Youth

Samuel S. Coursen was born August 4, 1926 in Madison, New Jersey. His father, Wallace Melville Coursen, was a principle in the New York accounting firm of Haskins & Sells; his mother was the former Kathleen Howell. Coursen graduated in 1945 from the Newark (New Jersey) Academy where he was an accomplished athlete.

He was awarded an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy in 1945 and graduated with the class of 1949.

After graduation, Coursen married Evangeline Joy Sprague, the daughter of U.S. Navy Captain Albert Sprague, then commander of the Navy Ammunition Depot at Lake Denmark, New Jersey.

[edit] Events leading to death

At Kaesong the 1st Cavalry Division was ready to cross the 38th Parallel. The 8th Cavalry Regiment, in the center, was to attack frontally from Kaesong to Kumch’on, fifteen miles north and along the main highway axis; and the 5th Cavalry Regiment, on the right, was to move east and then swing west in a circular flanking movement, designed to trap enemy forces south of Kumch’on. In the meantime, the 7th Cavalry Regiment, on the division’s left, traversed the Yesong River; advanced north on the road from Paekch’on to the small town of Hanp’o-ri, six miles north of Kumch’on, where the main P’yongyang road crossed the Yesong River; and established a blocking position. Defending the Kumch’on area north of Kaesong were the North Korean People's Army (NKPA) 19th and 27th Divisions. Its 43d Division, to the west, defended the Yesong River crossing and the coastal area beyond the river.

At 0900 on October 9, 1950, the 1st Cavalry Division struck out across the 38th Parallel. Initially, the advance was slow. Along the main highway the 8th Cavalry stopped repeatedly and waited for engineer troops to clear mines from the road. Halfway to Kumch’on on the twelfth the regiment was halted by an enemy strongpoint, defended by tanks, self-propelled guns, and antiaircraft weapons. In spite of a sixteen-plane air strike and a 155-mm. howitzer barrage, the strongpoint held.

The 5th Cavalry Regiment, which also ran into trouble at the start, failed to cross the parallel until October 10, 1950. The next day the regiment's 1st Battalion encountered an enemy force holding a long ridge with several knobs—Hills 179, 175, and 174—that dominated a pass fifteen miles northeast of Kaesong. The infantrymen drove the defenders from the ridge during the afternoon of the twelfth, but the fight was fierce. In the battle for Hill 174 1st Lt. Samuel S. Coursen, a platoon leader in Company C, observing that one of his men had entered a well-hidden gun emplacement, thought to be unoccupied, and had taken a bullet, ran to his aid. Without regard for his personal safety, Lieutenant Coursen engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat in an effort to protect the wounded soldier until he himself was killed. When his body was recovered after the battle, 7 enemy dead were found in the emplacement. Coursen’s actions saved the wounded soldier’s life and eliminated the main position of the enemy roadblock. For his actions, Lieutenant Coursen received the Medal of Honor posthumously.

After much fighting, the 1st Cavalry Division captured Kumch’on on October 14, 1950. With I Corps soldiers moving through the enemy’s principal fortified positions between the 38th Parallel and P’yongyang, the North Korean capital city, enemy front lines as such ceased to exist. On the nineteenth Company F, 5th Cavalry, entered P’yongyang, followed shortly thereafter by Republic of Korea Army 1st Division elements from the northeast. The next morning, October 15, 1950, the 1st Division reached the heart of the city and took the strongly fortified administrative center without difficulty. The entire city was secured by 10 AM that day.[1]

Coursen was buried at the U.S. Military Academy Cemetery at West Point.

[edit] The Award

On June 15, 1951, it was announced by The Pentagon, that Coursen would be awarded the Medal of Honor. On June 21, 1951, Coursen's young 14 month-old son, Samuel, Jr., of Morristown, New Jersey was presented the award in a Pentagon ceremony by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman and General of the Army Omar N. Bradley.


[edit] Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company C 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division

Place and date: Near Kaesong, Korea, 12 October 1950

Entered service at: Madison, N.J. Born: 4 August 1926 Madison, N.J.

G.O. No.: 57, 2 August 1951.

Citation:

1st Lt. Coursen distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action. While Company C was attacking Hill 174 under heavy enemy small-arms fire, his platoon received enemy fire from close range. The platoon returned the fire and continued to advance. During this phase 1 his men moved into a well-camouflaged emplacement, which was thought to be unoccupied, and was wounded by the enemy who were hidden within the emplacement. Seeing the soldier in difficulty he rushed to the man's aid and, without regard for his personal safety, engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat in an effort to protect his wounded comrade until he himself was killed. When his body was recovered after the battle 7 enemy dead were found in the emplacement. As the result of 1st Lt. Coursen's violent struggle several of the enemies' heads had been crushed with his rifle. His aggressive and intrepid actions saved the life of the wounded man, eliminated the main position of the enemy roadblock, and greatly inspired the men in his command. 1st Lt. Coursen's extraordinary heroism and intrepidity reflect the highest credit on himself and are in keeping with the honored traditions of the military service.[2]

[edit] Honors

  • 1956, the U.S. Army christened a new passenger and vehicle ferry the Lt. Samuel S. Coursen that operated between Manhattan and the former army post and U.S. First Army headquarters at Fort Jay, Governors Island New York. The ferry has carried heads of state visiting Governors Island and New York City including Queen Elizabeth II in 1957 and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in 1988. The ferry continued in service when Governors Island became a headquarters and base for the U.S. Coast Guard from 1966 until 2003. Now owned by the State of New York, the Coursen still in service on that route in New York Harbor.
  • In September 1951, the Newark Academy renamed its athletic ground, the Coursen Memorial Field.
  • Coursen's name is listed on a bronze plaque in the U.S. Military Academy Museum listing graduates who have been awarded the Medal of Honor.

[edit] See also

United States Army Portal

[edit] References

  • “Miss Sprague Affianced; Daughter of Navy Officer to be Wed to Cadet S. S. Coursen”, New York Times, May 1, 1949 
  • “Officer Wins Top Medal; New Jersey Lieutenant Gave Life in Korea to Save G.I.”, New York Times, June 16, 1951 
  • “Newark Academy to Honor Dead”, New York Times, September 13, 1951 
  • “First Army Gets Two Ferryboats”, New York Times, October 20, 1956 

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The UN Offensive
  2. ^ "SAMUEL S. COURSEN" entry. Medal of Honor Recipients: Korean War. CMH, U.S. Army (July 16, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-30.