Albert L. Ireland

Albert Luke Ireland (February 25, 1918 – November 16, 1997) was a United States Marine Corps staff sergeant.

Serving in both World War II and the Korean War, Ireland earned the Purple Heart medal nine times for wounds in combat, the most of any U.S. Marine in history.

Ireland was born and lived in Putnam County, New York.

After briefly serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1941 following the Attack on Pearl Harbor, and served in the Pacific theater during World War II.

Ireland took part in the Battles of Guadalcanal and Okinawa, earning five Purple Hearts before the surrender of Japan.

In 1941, Ireland enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), beginning his military career.

At the time, the United States had not yet entered the Second World War.

Ireland wanted to become a fighter pilot, but a sinus problem prevented him; he spent only nine months in the RCAF, concluding his service in November 1941.

"After a few times in the air," he later remarked, "they discovered my sinus condition."

Five days after Pearl Harbor, Ireland joined the U.S. Marines.

He spent 27 months overseas during World War II, serving as a machine gunner.

He was first wounded in the Guadalcanal Campaign, on January 23, 1943, when two pieces of shrapnel penetrated his back and lodged in his left lung, and four more times in the Battle of Okinawa.

He also contracted malaria during the Guadalcanal Campaign.

His first Okinawa wound, shrapnel in the leg and right arm, occurred on April 16, 1945.

On May 22, shrapnel struck him again, and on May 23, shrapnel hit his face.

His final Okinawa wound was a sniper's bullet to the face on June 12, 1945, when two teeth were shot out.

All his Okinawa wounds occurred on Sugar Loaf Hill, where he served with the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 6th Marine Division.

As a result of his WWII injuries, Ireland received five Purple Hearts.

Still carrying shrapnel in his lung, he returned to the United States in 1945 with full disability, spending a year as a Veterans Administration patient.

Doctors suggested surgery to remove half of his lung, but he refused the operation.

He traveled to Arizona and, eventually, his lungs improved.

Remarking on his recovery, Ireland later said: "I was only 40% disabled and the doctors said it was a miracle. I still have that piece of shrapnel in my lung."

Ireland became a Marine Corps Reservist after the end of World War II, and attended the School of Health and Education at Ithaca College between 1948 and 1949.

He also attended the University of Arizona and the University of Notre Dame, entering the Notre Dame physical education school with plans of becoming a coach.

In fall 1950, he volunteered for active duty in the Korean War, leading an infantry unit and earning a further four Purple Hearts.

He volunteered for active duty in the fall of 1950 after the outbreak of the Korean War, completing refresher combat training at Camp Lejeune in early January 1951 and applying for combat duty.

However, because Ireland had received more than two Purple Hearts, the first sergeant there who was creating the list of Marines to be sent to Korea attempted to prevent him from going to combat.

On October 23, 1950, the Marine Corps had made a regulation that any Marine suffering two or more wounds in World War II or Korea was to be removed from fighting.

The first sergeant, however, was overruled after Ireland appealed to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Clifton B. Cates, in Washington, D.C. After "two days of talking and waiting," Ireland was allowed to go fighting, and by January 7, 1951, was en route to the West Coast "preparatory to joining his Marine buddies" in the Korean War.

General Cates was later quoted in Time magazine as stating: "If the sergeant wants to fight, let him fight."

At the time, Ireland held the rank of corporal.

His mother, Katherine, at first objected when he wanted to fight again, but as Ireland told the press: "I explained to her we had another job to do and it would take a lot of men," and this changed her mind.

The Associated Press reported on Ireland's efforts to return to combat duty, and The New York Times printed the story also.

Ireland was flown from Washington to San Francisco en route to Korea.

In Korea, he led an infantry rocket unit.

Ireland concluded his military service in 1953, and worked as a teacher in New York City.

He was also active in several veteran organizations.

In 1979, the New York City Police formally recognized him for rescuing a student from a mugging.

In his later years, Ireland lived in Kansas, and died in 1997.

He was buried in a memorial service in Cold Spring, New York.