Frederick W. Mausert III

United States Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipient

Frederick William Mausert III (May 1, 1930 – September 12, 1951) was a United States Marine Corps sergeant who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle of the Punchbowl in the Korean War. Mausert and his rifle squad led the rifle platoon of his company in a bayonet attack on a hill heavily fortified by bunkers and defended by North Korean soldiers and machine guns. Although wounded twice in his company and battalion's attack for the hill, he refused to be evacuated twice, and continued to lead his squad and platoon under fire in destroying enemy emplacements until he himself was killed as he personally destroyed his second enemy machine gun position. He was the 20th Marine to receive the Medal of Honor for heroism during the war.

Frederick William Mausert, III was born to Frederick and Gwen Mausert on May 2, 1930, in Cambridge, New York. Nicknamed "Rick" by his family, friends, and acquaintances, he went to elementary school at Union School in Cambridge, and Brooklyn, New York. After his parents divorced, he attended high school in Monson, Massachusetts, where he played baseball, track, and basketball. He lived in Dresher, Pennsylvania and was employed by Glenside Hardware, Glenside, Pennsylvania. Mausert enlisted in the Marine Corps on June 21, 1948. Following recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, he was stationed at Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, before being sent to Korea in 1951. In Korea, he was assigned as a squad leader with B Company, 2nd Platoon, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. On September 10, 1951, he was wounded in action. On September 12, he was killed in action near Songnap yong, South Korea, on Hill 673. Mausert had run through an enemy mined area under fire to bring to safety two seriously wounded Marines and suffered a head wound. Refusing evacuation, he led his squad and platoon in a bayonet charge up the hill by his rifle company against enemy bunkers and emplacements and was wounded again. He destroyed two machinegun positions with hand grenades. He was killed spearheading his platoon's attack on the remaining North Korean bunkers on the hill which they then overran. On January 3, 1952, Sgt. Mausert was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. In 1952, Mausert's mother, Gwen Mausert Barnes, was presented her son's posthumous Medal of Honor during a ceremony at the Pentagon. A memorial was dedicated to Sgt. Mausert in Cambridge, New York, in 1991.