Mitchell Paige (Mihajlo Pejić) (August 31, 1918 – November 15, 2003) was an American-Serbian retired United States Marine Corps colonel who received the nation's highest military decoration for valor in combat, the Medal of Honor, during World War II.
On October 26, 1942, after thirty-three Marines in his machine gun platoon were killed or wounded defending a ridge during the Battle of Guadalcanal, Platoon Sergeant Paige operated four machine guns, singlehandedly stopping an entire Japanese regiment. He also led a bayonet charge afterwards.
Early life
Paige was born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania. His parents were ethnic Serbs, immigrants from the Herzegovina, originally surnamed Pejić. His mother kept him and his brother in touch with their roots, reminding them of the Battle of Kosovo, but also told them to be proud Americans. His family later moved to the Camden Hills neighborhood of West Mifflin. He graduated from McKeesport High School before enlisting in the US Marine Corps.
Military service
Paige enlisted in the Marine Corps on September 1, 1936, at Baltimore, Maryland, and completed his boot camp training at Parris Island, South Carolina. In November 1936, he was transferred to Quantico, Virginia, and later served as a gunner aboard the . While aboard the Wyoming, he took part in maneuvers via Panama to San Clemente Island off the coast of California. In February 1937, he was transferred to Mare Island Navy Yard for guard duty, and two months later was ordered to Cavite in the Philippine Islands. While on Cavite, he became a member of the All-Navy-Marine baseball team, which gained prominence throughout the islands and the Orient. He served in China from October 1938 to September 1939 and during his tour he guarded American property during the famous Tientsin flood. He left North China and returned to the U.S. in April 1940 for guard duty at the Brooklyn and Philadelphia Navy Yards. In September, he rejoined the 5th Marines, at Quantico, and the following month participated in maneuvers at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Culebra, Puerto Rico.
In March 1941, Paige was transferred back to the United States and ordered to New River, North Carolina, to help construct and prepare a new Marine Corps training base, which later became Camp Lejeune. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December, he was sent again overseas with the 7th Marines and landed at Apia, British Samoa. From Samoa, the 7th Marines landed on Guadalcanal in September 1942. On October 26, he earned the nation's highest decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor, during the campaign for Guadalcanal, specifically the Battle for Henderson Field, when he made a desperate stand against Japanese troops after they had broken through the lines and killed or wounded all of the other Marines in his machine gun section. Platoon Sergeant Paige fired his machine gun until it was destroyed, then moved from gun to gun, keeping up a withering fire until he finally received reinforcements. He later led a bayonet charge that drove the Japanese back and prevented a breakthrough in American lines. While on Guadalcanal, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the field on December 19, 1942.
Paige remained on Guadalcanal until January 1943, when he went to Melbourne, Australia, with the 1st Marine Division. The Marine Corps’ World War II Commandant, General Alexander A. Vandegrift, presented the Medal of Honor to Second Lieutenant Paige in Melbourne. In June, he was promoted to first lieutenant. In September, First Lieutenant Paige left with the 1st Marine Division for New Guinea where the Marines joined with the 6th Army for the attack on Cape Gloucester, New Britain, on December 26. In May 1944, the division left Cape Gloucester for a rest area in the Russell Islands, Pavuvu. In July, First Lieutenant Paige was sent back to the United States and assigned duty at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was promoted to captain on February 28, 1945. In June, Captain Paige became Tactical Training Officer at Camp Matthews, California, and the following September, was sent to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot as a recruit training officer. In May 1946, he was placed on inactive duty.