Harold C. Agerholm

The Harold C. Agerholm Memorial Gun Park near the headquarters of the 10th Marine Regiment in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina is named in his honor.

Initially buried in the 2nd Marine Division cemetery on Saipan, PFC Agerholm's remains were reinterred in Mound Cemetery in Racine in 1947.

On June 19, 1946, in Boston, Massachusetts, the destroyer USS Agerholm was commissioned and named in honor of PFC Agerholm. The Agerholm was decommissioned in 1978.

Agerholm's mother was privately presented his Medal of Honor on June 25, 1945, by the Commandant of the Ninth Naval District, honoring her request — she "didn't want any public presentation."

Agerholm landed on Saipan on June 15, 1944, nine days after the D-Day invasion in Europe. With the battle for the island raging for three weeks, the enemy launched a vigorous counter-attack on July 7, 1944, and a neighboring battalion was overrun. Agerholm volunteered to help evacuate casualties. For nearly three hours, he single-handedly evacuated 45 casualties while under intense rifle and mortar fire before being mortally wounded by a Japanese sniper.

In January 1943, Agerholm was promoted to private first class and appointed the battery store room keeper. He took part in the fighting on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, in November 1943. After the end of hostilities on Tarawa, Agerholm went with the 2nd Marine Division to the Hawaiian Islands, where they trained for the forthcoming invasion of Saipan.

Agerholm received his recruit training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California. Upon completion of his training he was assigned to Headquarters and Service Battery, 4th Battalion, 10th Marines, 2nd Marine Division. Agerholm embarked for overseas duty on November 3, 1942, to New Zealand, where he trained with his battalion in Wellington for eleven months.

Private First Class Harold Christ Agerholm, USMCR (January 29, 1925 – July 7, 1944) served as a Marine during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions while engaged with Japanese forces during the Battle of Saipan in the Marianas Islands.

Agerholm was born January 29, 1925, in Racine, Wisconsin and attended schools in the Racine Unified School District. After working for five months as a multigraph operator for the Rench Manufacturing Company (now Racine Industries, Inc), he joined the Marine Corps Reserve on July 16, 1942.