The Terrible Death Of The U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Lewis Kenneth Bausell of Pulaski.

U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Lewis Kenneth Bausell of Pulaski, Virginia, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on September 15, 1944, on Peleliu Island.

Bausell enlisted in the Marine Corps for a four-year period a week after the Pearl Harbor attack. He joined the 1st Marine Division and eventually rose to the rank of corporal in June 1942. He took part in the initial landings on Guadalcanal and the campaign in New Guinea.

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The Peleliu landing took place on September 15, 1944, and Bausell was in a squad tasked with cleaning out one of the many enemy caves.

 As the Marines fought the enemy combatants, a grenade was thrown towards them, and Bausell threw himself onto the grenade to smother the blast with his body. He was evacuated to a hospital ship and died of his wounds three days later. He was just 20 years old.

He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on September 15, 1944. Bausell was buried at sea. In November 1945, a new destroyer, the USS Bausell, was named in his honor and served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

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Austro-Hungarian sniper aiming out of a trench on the Italian Front, ca. 1916.

Today 107 years ago, on September 14, 1916, the 7th Battle of the Isonzo began, a brief yet bloody battle on the Italian Front.

On August 6, 1916, the Italians had launched the 6th Battle of the Isonzo, by far the most successful one as they captured the city of Gorizia (Görz).

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This had formed a saliant in the frontlines on the Isonzo, which was constantly being bombarded by Austro-Hungarian artillery. The Italians realized the saliant would be unsustainable in the long run and thus planned an offensive to straighten up their lines. 

The Italians would attack south of Gorizia on the Karst Plateau on a 10 km front towards the city of Trieste. The attack would also help the Russians in the Brusilov Offensive and the British and French on the Somme and Verdun. 

The Austro-Hungarians, anticipating this attack, had sent considerable reinforcements to the Isonzo, but were still outnumbered 3:1 in troops and 4:1 in artillery guns at Gorizia.

On September 14, 1916, following an itense artillery bombardment of 966 guns and 584 mortars, the Italians attacked the Austro-Hungarian positions on the Karst Plateau.

Heavy rain and fog slowed down the Italian attackers who had difficulty advancing against the Austrian mountain peaks; "It looked like an attempt at mass suicide", one Austrian officer remarked. Other than capturing the hills of Nova Vas, the Italians achieved minimal gains.

On September 15, the Italians attacked again, managing to advance some 300 m and capture the Mount Grado, before an Austrian counter-attack recaptured it. On September 16, the Italians resumed the attacks which led to heavy losses with no gains. By now the Italians were severely worn out.

On September 17 and 18, the Italians brought up their reserves and attacked for a last time, but were again repulsed by the Austrians. The battle was called off, ending in a clear defensive Austro-Hungarian victory.

In just the 5 days of the 7th Battle of the Isonzo, the Italians had suffered some 21,000 casualties, with some sources claiming upwards of 45,000 casualties. The Austro-Hungarians had suffered some 15,000 - 25,000 casualties.

Despite the lack of territorial gains, the continued Italian offensives did succeed in wearing down the Austro-Hungarian troops and artillery supplies, who, combined with the Russian Brusilov Offensive, could not keep up with the losses, and were seemingly near attritional defeat.

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