While serving in the Philippines, Lieutenant Colonel Granberry earned a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star, and a Purple Heart - for his shrapnel wounds.[1] The Distinguished Service Cross was awarded for extraordinary heroism in action at Longoskawayan Point, wherein he set an example to his understrength battalion which made it possible for them to destroy the threat to the rear of the I Philippine Corps.[2] Granberry later received a Legion of Merit and Silver Star with Oak-Leaf Cluster, both posthumously, on July 17, 1946.[3],[4] Lt. Colonel Granberry spent over 996 days as a Japanese POW, one of the longest recorded periods of captivity.[5] In an April 1946 issue of the West Point Magazine “Assembly” notes that he had seen Granberry’s bravery at Bataan, but his best idea of Granberry’s actions came from the large number of his officers that came to visit him while stuck in the POW camp.[6] Granberry is remembered both in his family plot at Rose Hill Cemetery in Meridian, MS and on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery.[7]
[1] Ward Calhoun, Duty, Honor, and Country: The Long Gray Line in the Pacific (Meridian, MS: Lauderdale Country Department of Archives and History, Inc., 2012), Page 31.
[2] “Award of Distinguished Service Cross,” Letter officiated by Brigadier General Carl H. Seals, Historical Paper Documents.
[3] “Silver Star (Oak-Leaf Cluster)-Posthumous Award,” Letter officiated by Major General Edward F. Witsell, Historical Paper Documents.
[4] “Legion of Merit – Posthumous Awards,” Letter officiated by Major General Edward F. Witsell, Historical Paper Documents.
[5] “Hal C. Granberry – Prisoner of War Record,” MooseRoots, Accessed April 28, 2017, http://wwii-pows.mooseroots.com/l/138510/Hal-C-Granberry .
[6] Ward Calhoun, Duty, Honor, and Country: The Long Gray Line in the Pacific (Meridian, MS: Lauderdale Country Department of Archives and History, Inc., 2012), Page 32.
[7] Ward Calhoun, Duty, Honor, and Country: The Long Gray Line in the Pacific (Meridian, MS: Lauderdale Country Department of Archives and History, Inc., 2012), Page 32.
[1] Ward Calhoun, Duty, Honor, and Country: The Long Gray Line in the Pacific (Meridian, MS: Lauderdale Country Department of Archives and History, Inc., 2012), Page 31.
[2] “Award of Distinguished Service Cross,” Letter officiated by Brigadier General Carl H. Seals, Historical Paper Documents.
[3] “Silver Star (Oak-Leaf Cluster)-Posthumous Award,” Letter officiated by Major General Edward F. Witsell, Historical Paper Documents.
[4] “Legion of Merit – Posthumous Awards,” Letter officiated by Major General Edward F. Witsell, Historical Paper Documents.
[5] “Hal C. Granberry – Prisoner of War Record,” MooseRoots, Accessed April 28, 2017, http://wwii-pows.mooseroots.com/l/138510/Hal-C-Granberry .
[6] Ward Calhoun, Duty, Honor, and Country: The Long Gray Line in the Pacific (Meridian, MS: Lauderdale Country Department of Archives and History, Inc., 2012), Page 32.
[7] Ward Calhoun, Duty, Honor, and Country: The Long Gray Line in the Pacific (Meridian, MS: Lauderdale Country Department of Archives and History, Inc., 2012), Page 32.