Medal of Honor · Dominican Republic Campaign
Joseph Anthony Glowin
Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps
- Date of Action
- July 3, 1916
- Location
- Guayacanas, Dominican Republic
- Medal Presented
- June 19, 1919
Values Embodied
- Courage
- Commitment
- Sacrifice
Official Citation
This citation is paraphrased from public-domain histories and is pending verbatim verification against the Congressional Medal of Honor Society archive.
In action against hostile forces at Guayacanas, Dominican Republic, 3 July 1916. Corporal Glowin, while in charge of a machine gun detachment supporting an advance against a strongly defended position, was twice severely wounded but continued to man his gun and pour heavy fire upon the enemy, refusing to leave his position until he was ordered back.
Biography
Before the War
Joseph Anthony Glowin was born December 14, 1892, in Detroit, Michigan, into a Polish immigrant family. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1910 and served in a series of the small expeditions that filled the Corps’ peacetime years in the early twentieth century — Cuba, Nicaragua, and then, in 1916, the American occupation of the Dominican Republic.
The Action
By the summer of 1916, Marines were moving north from Santo Domingo against Dominican forces loyal to General Desiderio Arias. On July 3, the 4th Marine Regiment ran into a fortified position at Guayacanas — stone walls, fallen trees, and trenches across the road. Corporal Glowin was in charge of a machine gun section attached to the lead company.
Glowin set up his gun in the open to suppress the trench line so riflemen could work around the flanks. He was hit once and stayed on the gun. He was hit a second time and stayed on it, continuing to fire until the position was broken and he was ordered, finally, to a field dressing station. The road to Santiago opened the next day.
After the War
Glowin recovered from his wounds and continued in the Marine Corps until retirement as a Master Technical Sergeant. He returned to Detroit, where he worked as a civil servant, and died there on March 25, 1957. He is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Detroit.