for Vegas. Charette and the other Fox Company corpsmen faced a growing number of casualties exposed to hostile small arms and mortar fire when Marines from his rifle company joined in the counterattack on March 27 against "Vegas Hill" with Charette's Third Platoon Commander, 2nd Lieutenant Theodore H. Chenoweth (Navy Cross), leading the assault in hand-to-hand fighting up the south side of the hill. When an enemy grenade landed near Charette and a badly wounded Marine he was aiding, he placed himself on top of the Marine in order to shield him from the explosion, and in doing so, the grenade's blast tore off Charette's helmet and destroyed his medical bag and knocked him unconscious. When he awoke, he found his face bleeding from shrapnel wounds and he couldn't see. He recovered enough to continue to aid Marines in the battle using torn parts of his uniform in order to dress battle wounds. In another instance, he removed his battle vest and placed it on another wounded Marine whose vest was destroyed from another explosion. In yet another instance, he attended to five Marines who were wounded in a trench from another explosion, and then stood up in the trench exposing himself to incoming rounds in order to carry the one most serious wounded comrade to safety. Charette sustained painful wounds during the day's battle and was recommended for the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism. While still serving in Korea after the fighting ended there, he learned that he would receive the United States' highest military decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor. Charette was presented the Medal of Honor from President Dwight D. Eisenhower during a ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 12, 1954. Only five enlisted sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroic actions during the Korean War. All were Navy hospital corpsmen attached to the Marine Corps. Of the five (Edward C. Benfold, Richard Dewert, Francis C. Hammond, John E. Kilmer, and Charette), Charette was the only living recipient of the medal. Later career Charette continued serving in the Navy, training new hospital corpsmen at the Naval Hospital Corps School in Great Lakes, Illinois. In 1958, aboard the , he had the honor of selecting the World War II remains (one from the Pacific, and one from the European) that would be placed in the Tomb of the Unknowns in