Archie Van Winkle - Later Life and Memorials

Later Life and Memorials

After his return to the United States, he was again assigned to the G-1 Division at Headquarters Marine Corps, this time as head of the Standards and Utilization Section, Manpower Control Branch. He then served as provost marshal at Camp Pendleton California them provost marshal general of the Marine Corps. He retired from service in February 1974.

In his retirement, Van Winkle lived on a boat in Bar Harbor near Ketchikan, Alaska. He died there on May 22, 1986, and his remains were cremated and scattered at sea in the Tongass Narrows, on which Ketchikan sits. A memorial headstone was placed in Sitka National Cemetery in Alaska.

On October 1, 1997, a granite monument in Juneau, Alaska was dedicated memorializing Archie Van Winkle, Alaska's only Medal of Honor recipient.

Van Winkle is also honored at the University of Washington Medal of Honor veterans Memorial.

The events for which he received the Medal of Honor, and the story of his unit there is related in the book, "Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir" by Joseph R. Owen, published by Presdio Press in 1996.