Local Medal of Honor recipient HAL needs assistance

By Ethan Nahté

The Medal of Honor is our nation’s highest honor presented to military personnel for actions above and beyond the call of duty. Since it was first presented in 1863, to date, only 3,515 have been awarded of the 40 million Americans who have served in the Armed Forces since the Civil War according to the National Medal of Honor Museum. That’s comes out to 0.0087875% — an extremely rare honor bestowed upon those 3,515 recipients, some posthumously.

The Medal of Honor Memorial in Little Rock, which honors men from the Civil War through the Vietnam War, was dedicated on November 18, 2000. The memorial was funded by private donations, and $125,000 was provided by the Arkansas General Assembly by Act 510 of 1999. 

One of the men paid tribute on that memorial is Herbert A. Littleton. HAL, as he was called, was born July 1, 1930, in Mena, Arkansas. The Polk County native entered service at Blackhawk, South Dakota, as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps reserve.

Through an unselfish act of bravery, Pfc. Littleton sacrificed himself to save the lives of others, resulting in being killed in action on Apr. 22, 1951, in Chuncheon, Korea during the Korean War. His prompt action and heroic spirit saved the other members of his team from serious injury or death.

Littleton earned the nation’s highest military award for valor on April 22, 1951, on Hill 44 in Chuncheon, South Korea, by deliberately falling upon and smothering an enemy grenade, which exploded. The grenade was one of many thrown at his team’s forward observation post while his observation team was serving with C Company, 1^st Battalion, 7^th Marines. By doing so, he saved the lives of the other Marines including the officer and forward observer in charge of Littleton’s team during the early morning enemy counterattack on C Company.

He also prevented the radio from being damaged by taking it off before he was killed. The radio was used afterwards to direct artillery fire in order to repulse the Chinese attack during the battle to take the hill.

HAL is the only Medal of Honor recipient from Polk County, Arkansas. Perhaps you have seen the nice monument to his memory in front of the Polk County Court House. Inscribed upon it is the Medal of Honor citation, which reads in part:

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a radio operator with an artillery forward observation team of Company C, in action against enemy aggressor forces… .”

Although the monument in Polk County is quite nice and is visited by several people, including tourists to the Mena area, there’s no doubt that more people visit the Medal of Honor Memorial in Little Rock, designed by artist John Deering. Located on the southeast lawn of the Arkansas State Capitol, the memorial includes 26 other military personnel, including Little Rock’s own Gen. Douglas MacArthur. The memorial sits within walking distance of eight other historical markers.

The Medal of Honor Memorial honors men from the Civil War through the Vietnam War. It was dedicated Nov. 18, 2000.

When the Medal of Honor Memorial was constructed in 1999 to 2000, corners were cut to reduce the cost of the memorial. Instead of using actual bronze placards, they used aluminum with a bronze-colored coating on each plaque. Time and the environment have caused the bronze-coating to begin to chip off exposing the aluminum.

This damage is not exclusive to HAL’s plaque. It has affected all 24 Arkansas Medal of Honor recipients’ plaques.

The Arkansas Medal of Honor Commission has proposed replacing all plaques with true bronze. This will ensure that the memorial will retain its integrity in the future.

The Medal of Honor Memorial is publicly funded, however, then-Attorney General Leslie Rutledge earmarked $50,000 state funds to help with the restoration on Nov. 10, 2022. The funds are to be allocated from the consumer education and enforcement fund.

At the time of the announcement, Rutledge said, “This memorial honors our state’s Veterans who have made tremendous sacrifices for our great nation.”

Three additional Medal of Honor recipients need to be added to the memorial, making a total of 27 plaques.

“As the daughter of a Veteran, I am humbled and honored by the 27 Arkansans represented at the memorial,” Rutledge said, “and I am proud to make a small contribution that will enable future generations to reflect on the great sacrifices made by Arkansas Veterans.”

Total cost for restoration now stands at approximately $160,000.

The Herbert A. Littleton Detachment of the Marine Corps League of Mena would like to propose a community effort to raise $3,500, which will cover the cost of replacing HAL’s plaque and podium.

This project will ensure that HAL’s sacrifice to our freedom is properly memorialized at our state capital.

The Marine Corps League of Mena have also requested the image on the plaque be changed. throughout their discussions with HAL’s family over the years, they have been told that the family was never fond of the image. The League was able to secure an image of HAL that was pleasing to the family.

Donations can be made at Union Bank of Mena in the Herbert A Littleton Marine Corps Fundraising Account. A QR code has also been set up for easy scanning and making a donation to a Go Fund Me page, which is in need of more donations to reach their goal.

HAL did for us. What can we do for HAL?

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