Gunnery Sergeant William "Denny" Weisgerber was a native of Boise, ID, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps February 1949, in June 1950 he was assigned to train Marines bound for combat in Korea.  October 1952, while serving as an assistant platoon sergeant in Korea, he saw intense combat in hilly outposts known as ‘The Hook’ where he led a patrol to take back an overrun post.  He succesfully achieved that goal only using small arms and hand grenades but when returning to his platoon, Denny discovered one of his Marines was missing.  SSgt Weisgerber returned to the battlefield to recover the wounded Marine carrying him on his back, down a treacherous slope, when he was severely wounded by mortar fire and evacuated to Hospital Ship Repose.  Denny's leg and part of his hand were amputated due to wounds received in the rescue.  For his personal courage, Denny was awarded the Navy Cross, the Nation's second highest award for valor in combat.  In January 2012, the Secretary of the Navy selected Denny for honorary promotion to the rank of Gunnery Sergeant and he was formally pinned at the local USMC Reserve center in San Jose, California.