USMC Col. Archie Van Winkle - Medal of Honor Recipient during the Korean War

Welcome back, everyone. On today's episode of Duty & Valor you’ll hear the story of a man who enlisted in the Marine Corps at the age of 17 as the US was entering WWII. A man who sustained life-threatening injuries but refused to be evacuated until his men won the battle. A man who would be awarded for heroism in three different wars before his retirement. This is the story of Medal of Honor Recipient USMC Col. Archie Van Winkle.  

Archie Van Winkle was born in Juneau, AL on March 17th, 1925. He was a four-sport athlete and captained the boxing and football teams at Darrington High School in Washington. After attending the University of Washington for a short time, Archie enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in December of 1942. During WWII, he served for three years in the Pacific. 

While there, Archie was an aircraft mechanic, radioman, and gunner. He saw a lot of combat action, 62 missions in total, and was awarded two purple hearts, two air medals, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Following his discharge on October 22nd, 1945 he returned to Washington where he attended Everett Junior College, before finishing his studies at the University of Washington. While he was attending Everett, he met the homecoming queen, Lavonne “Bonnie” Stewart. The two began dating and would eventually marry in 1949. After three years away from the Marine Corps, Archie decided to enlist again in March of 1948 where he served in the reserves until the start of the Korean War.

In September of 1950, Archie and his unit were part of the Inchon Landing in South Korea, which was an amphibious invasion that turned the war in favor of the American and UN forces. This action eventually led to the recapture of Seoul from the North Korean forces, who had seen many victories before this.

As the war continued, Archie who was now a Staff Sgt. was demonstrating his valor and leadership in combat time and time again. And no day was this more on display than on November 2nd, 1950. The Americans had pushed the enemy further north and by this point, they were facing them at Sudong, in what would be part of North Korea. By this point in the war, the Chinese were the main adversary on the Korean Peninsula, and on that night they attacked the American position under the cover of night.  

The Chinese heavily outnumbered the Americans and they were able to penetrate their lines. Though they lacked heavy weapons, the large number of Chinese troops firing their automatic weapons and throwing grenades at the Americans, pinned them down and began to overwhelm their position.  

As the fighting raged on, the situation was growing dire for the Americans. Sgt. Van Winkle knew he had to do something before they were overrun by the Chinese. He directed some men to maintain their defense and to lay down covering fire as he led a small group of Marines in a counterattack, directly into the brunt of the Chinese attack. Though Sgt. Van Winkle and all of the other Marines that were part of his attack force were wounded, they were able to reorganize their forces and set up a more effective defense of their position with fire superiority. But they were far from safe.

The Chinese made their own battle changes and concentrated their attack at another point on the American line. Their superior numbers again led them to break through the American lines. Sgt. Van Winkle observed that the Marines on their left flank were cut off from the main force. He only had the use of one arm as the other had sustained a direct hit from a bullet, shattering his elbow, but this didn’t slow him down. He faced heavy enemy fire over a 40-yard stretch as he led others in an attempt to secure the line. They were successful and continued the fight. 

Not long after, Sgt. Van Winkle was wounded again when he sustained a direct grenade hit to his chest. This injury was serious and he was in excruciating pain, but he refused medical evacuation. Rather, he remained to give orders and yell words of encouragement to his beleaguered men. Eventually, he had lost so much blood that he would lose consciousness. But not before his spirit, in the face of a grave injury, inspired his men to fight on and they would eventually repulse the enemy attack.

Sgt. Van Winkle was evacuated to Yokosuka Japan, where he received months of medical treatment before returning to the US. Following another three months of recovery there, he was returned to reserve status in July 1951. 

In early 1952, Archie received a phone call that informed him that he was going to be awarded the Medal of Honor, but he didn’t believe it. It took another call before he knew that it wasn’t a prank.

At a White House ceremony on February 6th, 1952, President Harry Truman awarded Sgt. Van Winkle the Medal of Honor. As she was about to give birth, his wife Bonnie was not able to attend. And soon after their son, Barrik, was born. 

The day after the ceremony, Archie was sworn in as a 2nd. Lt. He received this commission as part of the meritorious noncommissioned officer program, where they recognize exceptional noncommissioned officers with commissions in the military. In addition, he was returned to active duty where he would be assigned to various leadership roles before being promoted to Captain in 1954.   

When the US began combat operations in Vietnam, Van Winkle, now a Lt. Col. was given command of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines before becoming the 1st Marines division operations officer. He earned a Bronze Star for his heroism in combat. 

On July 6th, 1968 Van Winkle led a small group of men atop Hill 689 near Khe Sanh to retrieve the bodies of Marines killed there in combat, as well as to destroy the American defenses as part of their withdrawal. While doing so, they were attacked by North Vietnamese soldiers. Col. Van Winkle led their defense and again exhibited heroism, which saw him being awarded a gold star in place of a second Bronze Star. In addition, he received the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with a gold star.  

After the war, Col. Van Winkle served in different positions before retiring in February 1974. He took a job in the corrections system in California for a few years before enjoying his retirement years. He and Bonnie bought a boat, where they lived for some years. They had four children together, two daughters and sons. 

 On May 22nd, 1986, Archie was found dead aboard his boat after dying of natural causes.  His remains were cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea off the Coast of Southeast Alaska.     

Thank you for listening, and if you enjoyed this week's show, we kindly ask that you follow us and leave a review and 5-star rating. Links to the sources for today's show can be found in the show notes, as well as at dutyandvalor.com. And join us next week where we’ll tell you the story of another true American hero.