Charleroi will dedicate memorial to World War II hero at Community Days
By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
A memorial to honor a Charleroi man who received the nation’s highest military honor was brought to the borough Thursday by police and a motorcycle escort.
Marine Sgt. Mitchell Paige earned the Medal of Honor in 1942 for his service in the Solomon Islands during World War II.
He will be honored again Saturday during Charleroi’s Community Days celebration as the memorial is unveiled near the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce building. The dedication will take place at 7 p.m.
Local police departments and American Legion Riders, who raised money to purchase the memorial, led a group of police and military vehicles that brought it to Chamber Plaza.
Paige was born Aug. 31, 1918, in Charleroi, though he grew up in West Mifflin and graduated from McKeesport High School. He considered himself a Mon Valley boy.
His long military career earned him many accolades, with the highest being the Medal of Honor for the campaign for Guadalcanal, specifically the Battle for Henderson Field.
During the battle, Paige made a desperate stand against Japanese troops after they had broken through the lines and killed or wounded all the other Marines in his machine gun section.
Paige fired his machine gun until it was destroyed, then moved from gun to gun, keeping up a withering fire until he finally received reinforcements.
He later led a bayonet charge that drove the Japanese back and prevented a breakthrough in American lines.
Charleroi Borough Council President Mark Alterici hurried to the top of the borough building Thursday to take overhead video of the escort, while Charleroi Councilwoman Jeannine Motycki and Borough Administrator Roberta Doerfler welcomed riders on the ground.
Alterici said it was a fitting way to bring the memorial home.
“We wanted to have drone footage of everyone coming into town, but the rain made that a little difficult,” Alterici said. “Still, it was neat to see the escort coming into town. A fitting way to bring it home.”
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