A statue memorializing Yakima鈥檚 only Medal of Honor recipient was dedicated Wednesday at Tahoma Cemetery.
The 6-foot granite sculpture now stands above the grave of Staff Sgt. Jack Pendleton, who was killed in Germany in 1944 while drawing enemy gunfire away from his squad. Pendleton, who enlisted in the Army from Yakima, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 1945. He was buried at Tahoma Cemetery.
The idea for the memorial came to U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Ramon Dang as he was touring the state cleaning the graves of Medal of Honor recipients two years ago. When he was in places such as Walla Walla and Spokane 鈥� where there are two and three graves, respectively 鈥� he noticed the graves there had monuments with them. The urge to build a monument for Pendleton grew when he went to Tahoma Cemetery to clean Pendleton鈥檚 grave and couldn鈥檛 find it.
鈥淚 looked. I searched. I couldn鈥檛 find him,鈥� said Dang, who until recently was stationed at the Yakima Training Center. 鈥淚 looked everywhere. Eventually I had to go to the employees and ask them, 鈥楬ey, where is he buried at?鈥� And they showed him to me, and I was like, 鈥楻eally?鈥欌��
Before the monument was erected, the only indication at Pendleton鈥檚 grave that signaled his Medal of Honor status to onlookers were the letters 鈥淢鈥� and 鈥淗鈥� engraved side-by-side on his headstone. Dang said those letters don鈥檛 matter to people if they don鈥檛 know what they mean.
鈥淣o one knew he was here, not unless you actually knew what 鈥楳H鈥� stands for,鈥� Dang said. 鈥淣o one knew except for military people.鈥�
Dang collected donations from all over the world through a GoFundMe account. After enough money was raised 鈥� the finished product cost $8,500 鈥� Dang designed the monument himself. The front shows Pendleton鈥檚 military portrait above a Medal of Honor and a bit of biographical information. On the back, Pendleton鈥檚 Medal of Honor citation and the names of major donors are inscribed.
Pendleton was killed in Bardenberg, Germany, while his company was advancing in the Axis-occupied town in late 1944.
His squad was about two-thirds of the way through the town when they were pinned down by a nest of enemy machine guns. The nest was protected by a lone machine gun placed at a nearby intersection, which fired down a street that offered few spots for cover. To take out the nest of gunners, the lone machine gun needed to be eliminated.
After several unsuccessful attempts to take out the position, Pendleton volunteered to lead his squad in an attempt to destroy the gun. He started his squad slowly forward, crawling about 10 yards in front of his men. After moving about 130 yards under fire, Pendleton was seriously wounded in the leg.
Disregarding the wound, he ordered his men to stay where they were, and slowly worked his way forward alone. He got within 10 yards of the enemy position when he was killed by a burst from the gun. By deliberately placing the attention of the enemy troops upon himself, a second squad was able to advance undetected, and with the help of Pendleton鈥檚 squad, neutralized the lone machine gun. Meanwhile, another platoon of his company advanced up the intersecting street and took out the machine gun nest that the first gun had been covering.
鈥淧endleton鈥檚 sacrifice enabled the entire company to continue the advance and complete their mission at a critical phase of the action,鈥� his Medal of Honor citation says.
Among those at the dedication ceremony were members of Pendleton鈥檚 family, as well as Yakima Mayor Kathy Coffey, Yakima City Council member Brad Hill and Yakima County Sheriff Brian Winter.