Medal of Honor: Gilbert G. Collier – Korean War, July 19–20, 1953

The Last Stand on the Mountain: Gilbert G. Collier
Rank: Sergeant (then Corporal)
Conflict: Korean War
Unit: Company F, 223rd Infantry Regiment, 40th Infantry Division
Date of Action: July 19–20, 1953
Location: Near Tutayon, Korea

Summary of Action:
High in the jagged mountains near Tutayon, Korea—just days before the Korean War armistice—Sergeant Gilbert Collier made a fateful decision that would define the very meaning of valor. Born in Hunter, Arkansas, and raised in Tichnor, Collier was the assistant patrol leader and point man for a nighttime combat patrol sent to locate enemy positions. As he and his commanding officer moved forward in darkness, both men slipped and fell down a sheer 60-foot cliff. The fall left Collier with a painful back injury and his officer with a badly sprained ankle, unable to move.

When the officer ordered the patrol to leave them and return to friendly lines, Collier refused. He would not leave his leader behind. Through sheer determination and pain, the two crawled back over the treacherous terrain and concealed themselves until nightfall. Under cover of darkness, they began a desperate crawl back toward friendly positions—only to be ambushed by enemy forces.

Collier fought back with ferocity. He gunned down two enemy soldiers but was wounded in the process. Separated from his officer, out of ammunition, and surrounded, he fixed his bayonet and charged into close combat. Four enemy soldiers closed in—he fought them hand-to-hand, killing, wounding, and driving them off. Mortally wounded in the melee, Collier still tried to return to his officer’s side, determined to protect his comrade until the very end.

He died not only fighting, but reaching—reaching for his fallen leader, for duty, for something greater than himself.

Medal of Honor Citation:
Sgt. Collier, a member of Company F, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. Sgt. Collier was pointman and assistant leader of a combat patrol committed to make contact with the enemy. As the patrol moved forward through the darkness, he and his commanding officer slipped and fell from a steep, 60-foot cliff and were injured. Incapacitated by a badly sprained ankle which prevented immediate movement, the officer ordered the patrol to return to the safety of friendly lines.

Although suffering from a painful back injury, Sgt. Collier elected to remain with his leader, and before daylight they managed to crawl back up and over the mountainous terrain to the opposite valley where they concealed themselves in the brush until nightfall, then edged toward their company positions. Shortly after leaving the daylight retreat they were ambushed and, in the ensuing fire fight, Sgt. Collier killed 2 hostile soldiers, received painful wounds, and was separated from his companion.

Then, ammunition expended, he closed in hand-to-hand combat with 4 attacking hostile infantrymen, killing, wounding, and routing the foe with his bayonet. He was mortally wounded during this action, but made a valiant attempt to reach and assist his leader in a desperate effort to save his comrade’s life without regard for his own personal safety. Sgt. Collier’s unflinching courage, consummate devotion to duty, and gallant self-sacrifice reflect lasting glory upon himself and uphold the noble traditions of the military service.