Comer, Henry

Headstone of Henry Murry Comer.

NPS photo

Quick Facts

Significance:

3rd Battalion, 21st Marines, 3rd Marine Division

Place of Birth:

Rutherford County, Tennessee

Date of Birth:

May 30, 1923

Place of Death:

Guam, Mariana Islands

Date of Death:

July 26, 1944

Place of Burial:

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Cemetery Name:

Stones River National Cemetery

Henry Murry Comer was born on May 30, 1923, in Rutherford County, Tennessee. Before World War II, he worked in a defense factory in Detroit, contributing to the war effort at home. In 1943, he entered military service and was assigned as a Navy Hospital Apprentice Second Class (HA2c), serving as a combat medic with the 3rd Battalion, 21st Marines, 3rd Marine Division. Though a Navy corpsman, Comer lived, trained, and fought alongside Marine infantrymen, providing lifesaving care under fire. He held the rank of Petty Officer Second Class.

By July 1944, Comer was fighting to liberate the island of Guam, an American territory in the Mariana Islands captured by Japan in the first days of the war in 1941. After U.S. forces landed on July 21, Japanese commanders launched a massive nighttime counteroffensive intended to drive the Marines back into the sea. Beginning late on July 25 and continuing into the early morning hours of July 26, thousands of Japanese troops attacked across the Marine perimeter, exploiting gaps between units, overrunning positions, and infiltrating rear areas. The assault included repeated bayonet charges, grenade attacks, and hand-to-hand fighting in darkness and heavy rain.

During this coordinated counterattack, Japanese forces penetrated the sector held by the 21st Marines and pushed through an unguarded gap between regiments, reaching command posts, artillery positions, and the division hospital area. Aid stations and medical facilities, came under direct attack. Corpsmen, doctors, wounded Marines, and even patients who could still fight were forced to defend themselves as enemy troops closed in.

It was during this chaos that Henry Comer was killed in action in the early morning hours on July 26, 1944. When Japanese troops threatened the battalion aid station where wounded Marines were being treated, Comer moved into an exposed firing position to protect the injured men. Fighting back against overwhelming odds, he helped hold off the attackers long enough to prevent the station from being overrun. He was fatally shot while defending the wounded under his care.

For his extraordinary bravery, Comer was posthumously awarded the Silver Star Medal. The citation notes that “his exceptionally courageous action and high devotion to duty contributed essentially to the rout of the enemy and reflect the greatest credit upon Comer and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.”

The Japanese counterattack ultimately failed. By daylight on July 26, Marine units had sealed the gaps, retaken lost ground, and inflicted devastating losses. The fight marked a turning point on the battle for Guam, breaking the backbone of organized Japanese resistance on the island. Decades later, the people of Guam continue to remember and celeberate July 21 as "Liberation Day" thanks to the sacrifices of those who fought in World War II, including Comer. 

Henry Comer was survived by his wife, Grace Dixon Comer, and his six-month-old daughter, Linda Fay Comer. He is buried at Stones River National Cemetery in plot P-6270. His headstone bears the simple designation “HA2C USNR,” a reminder of a young Navy corpsman who gave his life defending his wounded brothers-in-arms in one of the fiercest battles of the Pacific War.