On June 16, 1944, four M4 tanks of Company A, 4th Tank Battalion, were advancing toward Saipan’s Aslito airfield when the lead tank was disabled by Japanese fire. As enemy soldiers swarmed the vehicle, platoon leader Gunnery Sgt. Robert H. McCard ordered the other tanks back and his own crew to bail out. He then engaged the enemy with grenades and one of the tank’s machine guns. McCard was later found dead in the midst of 16 slain Japanese.