Cpl. Paredes was given the Navy Cross for action on Tarawa.
0800 D+1 Back at Col. Jordan's CP nobody is happy. Things are still going badly. Col. Jordan is talking to Maj. Crowe: "Are there many snipers behind your front lines? Uh huh, we have a hell of alot, too."
"Where is my little runner? Where is Paredes?" asks Col. Jordan.
"He is dead, Col.. He was killed right over there," a Marine answers. Cpl. Osbaldo R. Paredes of Los Angeles was a brave Marine. All during the first day he had carried messages through intense fire, never hesitating to accept the most dangerous mission. "Oh hell!" says the misty eyed colonel. "What a fine boy! I'll certainly see that his family gets the Navy Cross." He stops suddenly. The Navy Cross seems quite inadequate now, only a few minutes after Paredes has been killed.
from: Sherrod, p. 83-84.
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copyright 2001 Wheaton, Illinois
Created 30 May 2001
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