Lewis Millett

Lewis Lee Millett Sr. (December 15, 1920 – November 14, 2009) was a United States Army officer who received the Medal of Honor during the Korean War for leading the last major American bayonet charge.

Millett was born on December 15, 1920, in Mechanic Falls, Maine.

He grew up in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, having moved there with his mother after his parents divorced and his mother remarried.

Assigned to the 27th Armored Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Division, Millett served in Tunisia as an anti-tank gunner during Operation Torch.

During an engagement there, he drove a burning ammunition-filled half-track away from Allied soldiers, jumping to safety just before it exploded.

For this action, he was awarded the U.S. military's third-highest decoration, the Silver Star.

He later shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter plane using half-track mounted machine guns.

Millett, by then a sergeant, next took part in the Allied invasion of Italy and fought in the Battle of Salerno and the subsequent Battle of Anzio.

While still attending high school in Dartmouth, he enlisted in the Massachusetts National Guard in 1938 and joined his uncle's old regiment, the 101st Field Artillery.

He enlisted in the U.S. National Guard while still in high school and then in 1940 joined the U.S. Army Air Corps.

When he thought that the United States would not participate in World War II he deserted and went to Canada with a friend where they joined the Canadian Army and were sent to London.

He served briefly with the Canadian Forces in London but soon transferred to the U.S. Army, which had since joined the war.

While serving with the Army in World War II, he received a Silver Star for driving a burning ammunition truck away from a group of soldiers before it exploded.

During the Korean War, he was awarded the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.

The citation explains that he successfully led a bayonet charge against the enemy.

He later served in the Vietnam War as well.

In 1940, he joined the United States Army Air Corps and entered gunnery school.

When it appeared that the U.S. would not enter World War II, Millett, eager to fight, deserted in mid-1941.

With a friend who had received a bad conduct discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps, Millett hitchhiked to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian Army.

Assigned to the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, he was sent to the United Kingdom, where he served as an anti-aircraft radar operator in London during the Blitz.

It was at this time that the U.S. Army discovered Millet's 1941 desertion; he was court-martialed, convicted, ordered to pay a US$52 fine (roughly $825 in 2022) and stripped of his leave privileges.

Only weeks later, he was given a battlefield commission to second lieutenant.

After World War II, Millett attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, for three years before being called up to serve in the Korean War.

Once the U.S. had entered the war, Millett transferred to the U.S. Army in 1942.

On 5 December 1950 Capt Millett was flying as an observer in a Stinson L-5 Sentinel when Capt J.F.O. Davis DFC, 2 Sqn SAAF attached to 18 Fighter Bomber Wing, crash landed his F-51D Mustang in North Korea.

The pilot of the L-5 landed on a road near the downed Mustang and Millett gave up his seat to Capt Davis.

This was an outstanding act of bravery as the area was surrounded by enemy troops.

When the pilot of the L-5 returned to the scene, no trace of Millett could be found.

Just before dark the L-5 returned, found and picked Millet up.

By February 7, 1951, Millett was serving in South Korea as a captain and commander of Company E of the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment.

On that day, near Soam-Ni, he led his company in an assault on an enemy position atop Hill 180 near Songtan or Anyang.

When one platoon became pinned down by heavy fire, Millett took another platoon forward, joined the two groups, and led them up the hill.

Wielding his bayonet and throwing hand grenades, Millett yelled encouragement to his soldiers throughout the hand-to-hand fight.

Upon reaching the top of the hill, his men stormed the enemy position and forced the opposing soldiers to withdraw.

Although wounded in the shin by grenade fragments, Millett refused to be evacuated until the position was secured.

Historian S.L.A. Marshall described the attack as "the most complete bayonet charge by American troops since the Battle of Cold Harbor".

Out of about 50 enemy dead, roughly 20 were found to have been killed by bayonets, and the location subsequently became known as Bayonet Hill.

For his leadership during the assault, Millett was awarded the Medal of Honor.

He retired from the Army in 1973 and died of congestive heart failure in 2009.

His grandfather had served in the American Civil War and an uncle fought in World War I with the 101st Field Artillery Regiment of the Massachusetts Army National Guard.