Medal of Honor: Gordon M. Craig, Korean War, September 10, 1950

A Split-Second Choice That Saved His Brothers

Sometimes a soldier has only a heartbeat to decide between life and death—not for himself, but for his comrades. Corporal Gordon M. Craig made that choice on a Korean hillside, throwing himself onto a grenade to shield four fellow soldiers from certain death.

Name: Gordon M. Craig
War: Korean War
Date of Action: September 10, 1950

Summary of Action

The fighting near Kasan, Korea, in September 1950 was fierce and unrelenting. U.S. forces were struggling to retake ground seized by North Korean troops, their advance hammered by machine-gun nests and grenade attacks.

Corporal Craig, a member of the 16th Reconnaissance Company of the 1st Cavalry Division, was among those pushing up a strategic hill that stood between his company and victory. With bullets snapping and mortars raining down, Craig and four of his comrades crawled forward to silence a machine gun position that was pinning their brothers in place.

Then came the grenade. An enemy soldier hurled it straight into their path, a weapon that would certainly kill or maim them all if it detonated unchecked. In that instant, Craig did not flinch, did not hesitate, did not even seek cover. Instead, he hurled himself bodily onto the grenade, smothering the explosion with his own flesh and blood.

His sacrifice inspired the men around him. Fueled by Craig’s act of valor, his comrades stormed the machine-gun nest with ferocity, destroying it and clearing the way for their company to advance. His decision saved lives and turned despair into momentum.

Craig’s selfless action on that hill near Kasan remains one of the most striking examples of devotion to duty and brotherhood in combat—a man giving all so that others might live.

Medal of Honor Citation

Cpl. Craig, 16th Reconnaissance Company, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. During the attack on a strategic enemy-held hill his company’s advance was subjected to intense hostile grenade, mortar, and small-arms fire. Cpl. Craig and 4 comrades moved forward to eliminate an enemy machine gun nest that was hampering the company’s advance. At that instance an enemy machine gunner hurled a hand grenade at the advancing men. Without hesitating or attempting to seek cover for himself, Cpl. Craig threw himself on the grenade and smothered its burst with his body. His intrepid and selfless act, in which he unhesitantly gave his life for his comrades, inspired them to attack with such ferocity that they annihilated the enemy machine gun crew, enabling the company to continue its attack. Cpl. Craig’s noble self-sacrifice reflects the highest credit upon himself and upholds the esteemed traditions of the military service.