was promoted to major in January 1945 and assigned for one year as a student in the Japanese language course at Yale University. On July 16, 1946, he was assigned an inactive duty status in the Marine Corps, and returned to his home and private employment in Massachusetts. There he became affiliated with the Marine Corps Reserve and commanded the 2nd Infantry Battalion, USMCR, Hingham, Massachusetts, until August 1950, when he was called to active duty with his battalion upon the outbreak of the Korean War. He served as executive officer of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, until September 1951, when he was released to inactive duty and, shortly thereafter, resigned his commission in the Marine Corps. Medal of Honor action On September 20, 1944, Captain Pope and his company set out to storm Hill 100, the steep and barren coral southern slope of a long ridge that the Japanese dubbed "East Mountain" as it sat to the east of the center of Bloodynose ridge. Initially, the Marines had the support of two M4 Sherman tanks, but on the approach to Hill 100 both of them slipped off of the sides of a narrow causeway, immobilizing them. Miraculously, although this narrow causeway was a prime target for the Japanese, all of Captain Pope's men managed to run across it without sustaining any casualties. Heavy fire from adjacent ridges across Horseshoe Valley to the West and Southwest plagued the Marines at the base of the hill and continued to do so as they made their steady ascent. Upon reaching the peak of Hill 100 and sustaining over 60 casualties in the process, the Marines realized that their maps were wrong and that "hill" 100 was actually a very long and narrow ridge with high ground and Japanese positions several yards to their north. From almost point-blank range, Japanese mortars and field guns opened up on them from atop the ridge as well as from the adjacent peaks and hills in the surrounding area. Pope and his men took Hill 100 at dusk after hours of bloody fighting that nearly annihilated the group. Forced to deploy his men thinly, he nevertheless determined to hold his ground for the night. Immediately after darkness fell, the Japanese started to attack, first in small infiltrating bands, then in groups of 20 to 25. Each time, the Marines opened