Harvey James McClung, of Kelso, Cowlitz Co., WA, served as Pharmacist Mate in the US Navy during World War II. He is included in The Daily News's annual "In Memoriam" list of military personnel who lost their lives during service. James E. Hunter, who served with Harvey James McClung, shared this tribute:
I served as a U.S. Marine in a rifle company of the 2nd Marine regiment, 2nd Marine Division, in World War II. Our Corpsman, or "doc", was one Pharmacist Mate Harvey James McClung, USN, of Kelso WA. He was the bravest man I have ever known. On Saipan, in July, 1944, my usual "foxhole buddy" had been killed and I dug in that night with McClung. In the early hours before the inevitable Japanese attack, we had a long whispered conversation, during which I asked him what compelled him to rush to the aid of a man who had been shot, regardless of the intensity of enemy fire. He replied that he didn't understand it either but he could not ignore the call. The very next morning, at 0600, we had barely begun an attack, when one of our men was killed not ten yards in front of McClung and me. Although it was obvious that the Marine was dead before he hit the ground, McClung sprang from our foxhole to go to his aid, despite a storm of enemy fire and despite my holding him back by his belt and pleading with him that the man was already dead. McClung was killed before he had traveled a few yards. Harvey McClung carried no rifle, no pistol, not even a combat knife. What he did carry was hope and an abiding belief in the rightness of what he was doing. He saved the lives of many Marines and lifted the spirit of countless more.