08/27/2026
In 1953, in the final months of fighting in the Korean War, Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class William Charette found himself in a Marine Corps outpost as Chinese forces bore down on him and other American troops. Wounded and exposed to enemy fire, he moved through the lines, rendering aid to wounded Marines. More than seven decades later, a future Navy destroyer bears his name.
On August 1st, the Navy christened the USS William Charette, a new Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, in Maine at the Bath Iron Works dry dock. Named for a Navy corpsman, the ship will be one of the Navy’s fleet of capable warships.
The warship’s namesake, Charette, enlisted in the Navy in January 1951, training as a hospital corpsman. Two years later, he was on the Korean Peninsula, taking part in operations during the final months of fighting.
On March 26, 1953, Chinese People’s Volunteer Army forces attacked a series of outposts manned by Marines. At Outpost Vegas, Charette was with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He and other corpsmen found themselves dealing with a surge in casualties and enemy troops pushing in. He risked his own safety to attend to wounded Marines. During the fighting, a gr***de was thrown near his position, and he covered a wounded Marine with his own body. Charette was wounded, including to the face, and the blast destroyed his medical kit. He regained consciousness and kept treating the wounded, using scraps from his torn uniform as bandages. He stripped off his own gear to shield another Marine. Fierce fighting continued, and Charette did not stop trying to help save the wounded. After five days of fighting, the Marines emerged victorious, having repelled the attacks. Charette, wounded in the course of providing immediate medical care, had helped save several lives.
He was initially recommended for the Navy Cross, but that was upgraded to a Medal of Honor. In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower presented it to him, for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action against enemy aggressor forces.”
