Ronan World War II Medal of Honor recipient remembered
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A solemn rendition of “Taps” and preceding moment of silence cut across the Ronan Cemetery on Nov. 11, as a small group of veterans and citizens gathered in the chilly sub-freezing temperatures to honor a Ronan man who paid the ultimate price for his country.
Laverne Parrish, a World War II Medical Corpsman was honored in a small Veteran’s Day ceremony. Parrish was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for acts of extreme courage and heroism that occurred in January 1945.
According the Congressional citation honoring Parrish, on Jan. 18, 1945 he was a medical aid fighting with Company C at Binalonan, Luzon, Philippine Islands when he saw two wounded men come under enemy fire. He administered aid and moved one man to cover before crossing 25 yards of open ground to administer aid to another man.
A few days later, on Jan. 24 Parrish’s company was crossing an open field near San Manuel, when they came under enemy fire and were ordered to withdraw to the cover of a ditch. Parrish saw two wounded men still in the field. He left the ditch, crawled forward under enemy fire, and brought both wounded men to safety in separate trips.
He proceeded to treat nearly all of the 37 casualties in the company before becoming mortally wounded by mortar fire.
Parrish is one of 435 World War II veterans to receive the Medal of Honor, of 15 million who served during the war.
