Sergeant Joseph D. "Joe" Griffin is the protagonist of Medal of Honor: Rising Sun.
Biography[]
Joseph was born in Mather, Pennsylvania. He was a star athlete during high school. After graduation, he joined the United States Marine Corps. Joseph was one of the few people worried about growing tensions with Japan and feared that a war may break out. He was scared that his younger brother, Donald Griffin, would also enlist. He tried to discourage him but Donald signed up anyway. Joseph was liked by everybody in his squad.
Pearl Harbor[]
On December 7th, 1941. Joseph was stationed on the USS California. Early in the morning, he was woken up by the Japanese attack. He followed a fellow marine through the ship extinguishing fires and assisting crewmen. After giving the fire extinguisher to a cook Joseph quickly got topside. Once topside Jack Lauton gave him a BAR and Joseph joined the defenders. When one of the torpedoes hit, Joseph was thrown off deck by the blast. Luckily he was rescued by Jack, Francis Spinelli and Silas Whitfield in a PT Boat. Joseph manned the dual .50 cal turret on the boat and together they successfully fend off the attackers while escorting a ship to safety. Once they make it to shore the few marines cheer but Jack tells them to knock it off. The marines look at the bodies and sunken ships in the water, and pay respect to the men who were killed.
Philippines Campaign[]
After Pearl Harbor Joseph was sent to Calumpis in the Philippines to stop the invading Japanese forces. He was assigned to his younger brother, Donald, and his demolition squad to blow up the Calumpis bridge to stop the Japanese forces. Unfortunately the truck containing the explosives is in the town square, behind enemy lines. With an M3 Stuart tank Griffin,Donnie and Gunny pushed their way to the church but before they could reach it they came across a blockade. Gunny ordered Griffin to find a way around it. Griffin made his way through the streets and the sewers ultimately reaching the church. He signaled the demolition team by using the church bell. Griffin jumped on the back of the demolition truck and fought off the incoming Japanese infantry while Gunny drove. As Griffin and Gunny make their escape in the truck, the tank that Donnie is in gets overrun by Japanese soldiers and is left behind. Once they escape Gunny comforts Griffin, telling him that his brother was a good marine.
Battle of Guadalcanal[]
Sgt. Lauton and Cpl. Griffin are sent to the island of Guadalcanal to conduct a nighttime raid on a Japanese military outpost there, intended to soften up the island’s defenses before the main assault at dawn; they are accompanied by Pvt. Adams and Pvt. Davis, but as the team approach the island aboard a boat, Davis is injured by a Japanese sniper, falls into water and is killed by a crocodile. The team reach the landing site and link up with a second Marine squad, but walk into a Japanese ambush not long after. Leaving Pvt. Adams behind with the other survivors of the attack, Lauton and Griffin proceed alone. Along the way, Griffin collects several pieces of intelligence and destroys a power generator. At an airfield, Griffin destroys a munitions depot and a Japanese tank using an anti-air cannon. With the airfield secured and the island’s defenses crippled, the raiding party hunker down until the main American force arrives. The dawn assault is a success, and the Americans gain a foothold on Guadalcanal, allowing them to start pushing the Japanese back.
With Japanese artillery strikes preventing the use of the captured airfield, Sgt. Lauton tasks Cpl. Griffin to take out an artillery position called “Pistol Pete”. Accompanied by Pvt. Brooks and Pvt. Thomason, Griffin sets out to search for the previous Allied patrol sent on this mission and secure their demolitions. En route through the jungle, Griffin and his team run into Maj. Warren F. M. Clemens, a Scottish coastwatcher, who has been on the island since the start of the war. Clemens informs the team that the Allied patrol were captured by the Japanese and are being interrogated at a nearby POW camp. Aided by Guadalcanal natives, they attack the camp and rescue the captured soldiers, including their leader, Lt. Edmund Harrison. Tragically, Brooks is killed by a mortar round. The group split up: Griffin and Harrison proceed towards “Pistol Pete”, while Thomason and Clemens stay behind with the rest of the rescues POWs. The artillery position turns out to be entrenched within a network of caves winding through the ridgeline. Harrison uses explosives to destroy all three artillery guns while Griffin keeps the enemy at bay. Their mission complete, the two soldiers leave the caves and emerge on a side a deep ravine. They cross a rope bridge to reach the other side, and while Harrison is hit by a bullet, Griffin helps him across and destroys the rope bridge behind him. After regrouping with Clemens, Thomason and the rescued POWs, Harrison thanks Griffin for saving his life and reveals that he met Donnie in the Philippines, nothing that both brothers have “the same grit”. Shortly after, Lauton introduces Griffin to Col. Michael P. Floyd, a recruiter for the Office of Strategic Services. Despite Lauton’s qualms over losing a competent soldier like him, Griffin soon joins the OSS and begins his training.
Singapore[]
Joseph now an OSS agent, makes it to the town docks undetected. He quietly eliminates the guards and rendezvous with Ichiro Tanaka. Their union is interrupted by a suspicious patrol. The two agents go their separate ways to misdirect the patrols. Eventually Joseph meets up with Agent Phillip Bromley and are able to intercept Colonel Kandler. Joseph steals the colonel’s uniform. After a shootout across the rooftops, Joseph links up with Tanaka, then changes into the German uniform. Now in disguise, the two agents infiltrate the town hotel to join in an Axis meeting. They learn about Shima’s plan to stock on gold then eliminate the Soviet and Nazi seats of power together. Just then, Kandler comes in his underpants and blows Joseph’s cover. Bromley storms in and helps Joseph raid the hotel. They evacuate the hotel on a double decker bus, which Tanaka managed to acquire and leave to report their findings to OSS.
Thailand[]
Aboard Shima's Carrier[]
with the hijacked Zero plane, the three agents have the element of surprise and successfully board Shima’s supercarrier undetected. The agents go their separate ways, with Tanaka infiltrating the ranks, Bromley going through another part of the carrier and Joseph fighting his way through the crew quarters while switching the air vents. Joseph and Bromley meet up to set the gas containers to fill the carrier interior with a volatile gas to blow the carrier up. Their plan is cut short when inside a vault full of gold bars, they are knocked out by nerve gas. The two agents are tied to chairs and brought before Shima himself. The commander interrogates Joseph, recognizing his appearance similar to Donny’s, revealing that Donny was captured, not killed in action. Tanaka dressed as an officer presents a katana, then uses it to cut Joseph loose, only to be killed by Shima. As Joseph and Bromley chase Shima, the accumulated gas which they released earlier begins to explode and rock the carrier. While Bromley goes to acquire a plane to escape, Joseph shoots his way through the carrier. He reaches a hangar just in time to see Shima tormenting him as he goes up a lift taking Donny away with him. Joseph and Bromley meet up at the runway. Bromley with some difficulty, manages to drive the Zero plane, while Joseph defends their flank. After several botched takeoffs, Bromley manages to fly the plane away just as the supercarrier blows up and begins to sink. Bromley promises that some time they will find Donny and rescue him.
Rescue of POWs[]
After escaping from the Toshikaze, Joseph joined forces with a fellow OSS Operative John Baker and together they started raiding Japanese POW camps scattered all along the Pacific. In one of the camps Joseph was finally able to rescue his lost brother, Donald, and the two brothers were finally reunited.
Trivia[]
- Griffin has no voice actor, thus, he is silent throughout the entire game. Shima acknowledges this when he asks "Nothing to say?" after Griffin doesn't respond to his question about whether he has a brother.
- He is a usable character in Medal of Honor Rising Sun`s multiplayer mode.
- In Medal of Honor: Heroes, Joseph Griffin is mistakenly referred to as a Corporal, despite being at least a Sergeant at the end of the war in Europe.
Gallery[]
