Medal of Honor Recipient Articles

Medal of Honor: Herbert K. Pililaau, Korean War, September 17, 1951

He fought to the last breath, standing alone on Heartbreak Ridge. Herbert K. Pililaau, a son of Hawaii, gave his life so that his platoon could live.

MOH

Medal of Honor: Walter C. Monegan, Jr. Korean War – September 17 & 20, 1950

In the desperate fighting around Seoul during the Inchon campaign, PFC Walter C. Monegan, Jr., a Marine rocket gunner, stood in the path of advancing North Korean tanks. On September 17, he moved forward under heavy automatic weapons fire.

MOH

Medal of Honor: Donald K. Schwab, World War II, 17 September 1944

Schwab’s actions in Lure did more than silence a single strongpoint. They embodied the grit of the citizen-soldiers of the U.S. Army—ordinary men who, in extraordinary moments, chose valor over fear.

MOH

Medal of Honor: Harold O. Messerschmidt, World War Two, September 1944

The enemy pressed closer, and Messerschmidt was struck down by a burst of automatic fire. Yet he refused to yield. Rising to his feet despite serious wounds, he leveled his submachine gun at the oncoming attackers.

MOH

Medal of Honor: Francis J. Clark, World War Two, 12 September 1944

The autumn of 1944 found the men of the 28th Infantry Division locked in a desperate contest along the Luxembourg–Germany frontier. Rain, fog, and bitter enemy fire turned every crossing, every hilltop, into a place where survival was uncertain.

MOH

Medal of Honor: Shipfitter First Class Patrick McGunigal, World War I, September 17, 1917

A storm turned a routine balloon observation into a deadly crisis aboard the USS Huntington in 1917. One sailor’s courage and quick thinking saved a fellow man from drowning in the Atlantic.

MOH

Medal of Honor: John E. Moran, U.S. Volunteers, Philippine Islands, 17 September 1900

In the steamy jungles and rice fields of Luzon during the Philippine–American War, Captain John E. Moran found himself facing a moment that would test the will and courage of any leader.