Medal of Honor, John D. Hawk, World War II, August 20, 1944

Name: John D. Hawk
War: World War II
Date of Action: August 20, 1944

Summary of Action

On August 20, 1944, as the Allies closed the Falaise Pocket near Chambois, France, Sgt. John D. Hawk’s company came under heavy attack by German tanks and infantry. Manning a light machine gun, he cut down advancing troops until his weapon was destroyed and he was wounded by shellfire. Refusing to withdraw, Hawk seized a bazooka and, with another soldier, stalked enemy tanks, driving them back into cover.

Even while bleeding from his wound, Hawk rallied two broken machine gun squads, piecing together a usable weapon from damaged guns under fire. When German armor surged again, he boldly climbed to a knoll in full view of the enemy and acted as a human aiming point for U.S. tank destroyers. Running repeatedly through fire to adjust their range, he guided their guns until two enemy tanks were destroyed and a third forced to flee. He then directed their fire on the German stronghold, compelling more than 500 enemy troops to surrender.

His courage and tactical brilliance were decisive in closing one of the enemy’s last escape routes from the Falaise Pocket.

Medal of Honor Citation

He manned a light machine gun on 20 August 1944, near Chambois, France, a key point in the encirclement which created the Falaise Pocket. During an enemy counterattack, his position was menaced by a strong force of tanks and infantry. His fire forced the infantry to withdraw, but an artillery shell knocked out his gun and wounded him in the right thigh. Securing a bazooka, he and another man stalked the tanks and forced them to retire to a wooded section. In the lull which followed, Sgt. Hawk reorganized 2 machine gun squads and, in the face of intense enemy fire, directed the assembly of 1 workable weapon from 2 damaged guns. When another enemy assault developed, he was forced to pull back from the pressure of spearheading armor. Two of our tank destroyers were brought up. Their shots were ineffective because of the terrain until Sgt. Hawk, despite his wound, boldly climbed to an exposed position on a knoll where, unmoved by fusillades from the enemy, he became a human aiming stake for the destroyers. Realizing that his shouted fire directions could not be heard above the noise of battle, he ran back to the destroyers through a concentration of bullets and shrapnel to correct the range. He returned to his exposed position, repeating this performance until 2 of the tanks were knocked out and a third driven off. Still at great risk, he continued to direct the destroyers’ fire into the Germans’ wooded position until the enemy came out and surrendered. Sgt. Hawk’s fearless initiative and heroic conduct, even while suffering from a painful wound, was in large measure responsible for crushing 2 desperate attempts of the enemy to escape from the Falaise Pocket and for taking more than 500 prisoners.