Medal of Honor: John J. Tominac, World War II, September 12, 1944

Name: John J. Tominac
War: World War II
Date of Action: September 12, 1944
Place: Saulx de Vesoul, France
Unit: Company I, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division
Rank: First Lieutenant

Summary of Action

The assault on Saulx de Vesoul was fierce and deadly. German roadblocks, mortars, machineguns, and an armored self-propelled gun stood in the way of the 3rd Infantry Division’s advance. For 1st Lt. John J. Tominac, hesitation was not an option.

He began by charging alone across 50 yards of open terrain, cutting down a German machinegun crew with his Thompson. Leading his squad, he spearheaded the destruction of another strongpoint, personally accounting for dozens of enemy casualties. But the true test came as his men reached the town’s edge.

A German self-propelled gun fired, igniting a supporting Sherman tank and wounding Tominac in the shoulder. As the tank crew bailed out, he picked himself up, ignored his wound, and sprinted toward the burning vehicle. Climbing onto the hull while fire licked around him and bullets ricocheted off the armor, he mounted the .50 caliber antiaircraft gun. Standing exposed, he unleashed burst after burst into the enemy roadblock, forcing the Germans to abandon their fortified position.

Refusing evacuation, Tominac called for a sergeant to cut shell fragments out of his shoulder with a pocketknife and pressed on. He then led his men in a grenade assault against yet another German stronghold—32 enemy soldiers entrenched with automatic weapons. By sheer audacity and relentless aggression, he compelled their surrender.

By day’s end, Tominac’s leadership had destroyed four successive enemy defenses, captured a key sector of the city, and killed or captured at least 60 Germans. His heroism inspired his men and secured the advance of his division.

Medal of Honor Citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty on 12 September 1944, in an attack on Saulx de Vesoul, France 1st Lt. Tominac charged alone over 50 yards of exposed terrain onto an enemy roadblock to dispatch a 3-man crew of German machine gunners with a single burst from his Thompson machinegun after smashing the enemy outpost, he led 1 of his squads in the annihilation of a second hostile group defended by mortar, machinegun automatic pistol, rifle and grenade fire, killing about 30 of the enemy. Reaching the suburbs of the town, he advanced 50 yards ahead of his men to reconnoiter a third enemy position which commanded the road with a 77-mm. SP gun supported by infantry elements. The SP gun opened fire on his supporting tank, setting it afire with a direct hit. A fragment from the same shell painfully wounded 1st Lt. Tominac in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. As the crew abandoned the M-4 tank, which was rolling down hill toward the enemy, 1st Lt. Tominac picked himself up and jumped onto the hull of the burning vehicle. Despite withering enemy machinegun, mortar, pistol, and sniper fire, which was ricocheting off the hull and turret of the M-4, 1st Lt. Tominac climbed to the turret and gripped the 50-caliber antiaircraft machinegun. Plainly silhouetted against the sky, painfully wounded, and with the tank burning beneath his feet, he directed bursts of machinegun fire on the roadblock, the SP gun, and the supporting German infantrymen, and forced the enemy to withdraw from his prepared position. Jumping off the tank before it exploded, 1st Lt. Tominac refused evacuation despite his painful wound. Calling upon a sergeant to extract the shell fragments from his shoulder with a pocketknife, he continued to direct the assault, led his squad in a hand grenade attack against a fortified position occupied by 32 of the enemy armed with machineguns, machine pistols, and rifles, and compelled them to surrender. His outstanding heroism and exemplary leadership resulted in the destruction of 4 successive enemy defensive positions, surrender of a vital sector of the city Saulx de Vesoul, and the death or capture of at least 60 of the enemy.