USMC Cpl. Joseph Vittori: Sacrifice at Hill 749 During the Korean War

Welcome back everyone. On today's episode of Duty & Valor, you’ll hear the story of a man who could have avoided combat due to his injuries, but decided to return to his unit.  A man who sustained numerous wounds throughout a nighttime battle, but never gave up the fight.  A man who faced an overwhelming number of attackers and held them off nearly by himself, killing countless men while doing so.  This is the story of Medal of Honor Recipient US Marine Corps Corporal Joseph Vittori.

Joseph was born on August 1, 1929 to Italian immigrant parents Pietro and Dora Vittori.  The family owned a farm in Beverly, MA, where Vittori worked until he enlisted in the Marine Corps in October 1946.

Following boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, Vittori spent time stationed at the Norfolk and Brooklyn Naval Shipyards before being assigned to the USS Portsmouth.  He served aboard the ship for a few months and then ended his three year enlistment at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Returning home, Vittori spent a year as a bricklayer and plasterer before joining the Marine Corps Reserve in September 1950.  He returned to Camp Lejeune for further training before being sent to South Korea.  There he was assigned to 2nd battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division.  By June, 1951, he was promoted to corporal shortly after he received his second purple heart.  He was assigned as a property sergeant after he left the field hospital, but after only a week in his new role, Vittori asked for, and was granted permission to rejoin his unit.

On September 15, 1951, Vittori and the men of Company F found themselves assaulting Hill 749 against the heavily entrenched positions of the Korean People’s Army during the Battle of the Punchbowl.  Initially they made good progress until the enemy counterattacked, engaging the Marines in fierce hand to hand combat.  Vittori and two other Marines from their reserve platoon raced into the fighting, giving the Marines the opportunity to consolidate their positions.

Later the same day, Vittori volunteered to support their Northern flank, where the Marines had set up four machine gun positions.  Joining him was PFC Lyle Conaway.  Vittori was armed with a Browning Automatic Rifle and Conaway with an M1 semi-automatic rifle, a Thompson submachine gun and hand grenades.  With the Marines not seeing any sleep over the past few days, Vittori told Conaway to get some sleep.  But he wasn’t asleep long before Vittori yelled to him that they were coming.

While Conaway fought to wake, Vittori was firing at the enemy in front of him.  Once Conaway brought his M1 to bear on the enemy, he could only get a few rounds off before he was hit in the head and face from a concussive blast.  With blood pouring down his face and over his eyes, Conaway thought he was blind.  As he stated, it wasn’t until his tears washed away the blood that he could finally see.  Seeing that Vittori was firing non-stop at the enemy, he grabbed his rifle to join him only to find it was jammed.  As he was badly injured, he resorted to throwing grenades at the attackers.  

Vittori would stand, take aim, fire, and then duck down low into the fox hole, only to repeat this over and over again.  Unfortunately as he did this one time, an enemy round hit Vittori in his chest.  Though bleeding badly, to a man like Vittori, this wouldn’t stop him that night.  He kept firing at the enemy.  Nearby, one of the machine guns had been hit by a grenade, igniting the grass.  The ground was now covered in flames and air with heavy smoke, causing more confusion on the battlefield.  

As the Marines sustained heavy casualties across their four gun emplacements, there was a 100 yard breach in their line.  Vittori began his night long race between positions, firing at the approaching enemy.  At times, he would take aim with his automatic rifle and other times he would man one of the machine guns, laying down heavy fire on the North Koreans.

During the pitch black of night, Vittori had to avoid small arms fire and the shells exploding in and around their positions as he made runs to replenish his ammunition.  His non-stop movements from one position to the next, and back again led the attackers to believe that there was a much larger force defending their position.  If they had known it was just Conaway and Vittori still fighting, they could have quickly overran their position.

With the enemy coming to within feet of their position, exhausted, and suffering from his wounds, Vittori knew their situation was becoming dire.  He rejoined Conaway, who was the only other Marine still fighting.  As Conaway recounts, Vittori told him “we can’t hold ‘em.   We have to get back.”

Though both Marines were badly wounded, Vittori felt Conaway needed medical care more than he did so he told him “You go.  I’ll cover ya.”  Before Conaway had a chance to fall back to a safer position, an enemy round found its target and hit Vittori in the face and he fell mortally wounded.

Conaway then stumbled down the hill alone and fell into a fox hole where he was soon met by reinforcements.  By day break, the Marines had retaken their positions and they saw the carnage around them.  Along with Vittori and the other dead Marines, they saw approximately 200 dead enemy soldiers, many of which were killed by Vittori himself. 

For their valiant defense of their positions on Hill 749, PFC Lyle Conaway was awarded the Navy Cross and Corporal Joseph Vittori was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.  

Joseph Vittori’s family was in attendance at a Pentagon ceremony on September 7, 1952 where his parents were presented his medal by the Secretary of the Navy.

Joseph Vittore was initially buried at the United Nations cemetery in Busan, South Korea before his body was returned to Massachusetts where he was finally laid to rest at the St. Mary’s Cemetery in his hometown of Beverly.

Corporal Joseph Vittori’s indomitable spirit and unwavering courage stand as a testament to the epitome of selfless heroism.  His fearless commitment to protecting his fellow Marines, even in the face of overwhelming odds, reflects the very essence of sacrifice and dedication.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Duty & Valor.  To read more about this week’s hero, check out the sources used in today's episode in our show notes and at dutyandvalor.com.  

If you want to listen to our episodes early, we release new episodes on our YouTube channel of the same name on Fridays at 5pm.  Also, on our channel we release daily YouTube shorts that highlight our Nation’s heroes, most of whom haven’t been featured on the show yet. 

Be sure to like, follow, and share our episodes and please join us for our next episode, where we'll be sharing the inspiring story of another American hero who served with pride and lived with humility.