O'Neil and Dalphonse stepped it up on Saipan by taking over their .50 caliber machine gun that had been taken out by enemy fire. They were machine gunners for the better part of the operation.  With intense fire fights taking place toward the front, the machine gun seemed like the better option over their M1. Below are  two pictures of O'Neil and his Citation. The Citation closing with, "His devotion to duty and coolness under fire were a source of inspiration for those with whom he served".
 

 
  Pictured above is O'Neil and next to him is his Citation.  The frame and hand match that of the wounded marine.  O'Neil has a cleft in his chin as does the wounded marine.  O'Neil has a scar on his right cheek which agrees with his injury card and the wounded marine has a gauze pad on his right cheek.  The wound to the right cheek, cleft chin, and the respective heights of the two men put the odds that it is them in the picture. The fact that the injury and picture date line up along with the same division as the photographer also add credence to their claim.
   At 18, I told my father of my plans to join the Marines with my friends.  He said that we would talk about it after dinner.  He grabbed his smokes and coffee and on the porch we went.  He told of boot camp, cooking on the ships, training on Maui, and then into Saipan.
  A Tinian story was of them being heavily shelled late one night.  A shell hit close shaking the ground and O'Neil in his hole.  He realized it hit just beyond him unfortunately where a friend nick named Carpy was.  He said he called out Carpy twice and when nothing came back, he crawled to where his hole was.  He suspected it wasn't going to be good as he got near.  "I got close and said Carpy?  I didn't hear him, so I stuck my hand in.  It was just like warm mush.  I layed there a moment thinking so he is gone now and crawled back."
    I never joined and never brought the subject up again.