Medal of Honor: Junior J. Spurrier – World War II – November 13, 1944
One man. One village. One unstoppable force. At Achain, France, Staff Sergeant Junior J. Spurrier fought an entire German garrison by himself — and won.
November 13, 2025
Name: Junior James Spurrier
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Organization: U.S. Army
Unit: Company G, 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division
Place and Date: Achain, France – 13 November 1944
Entered Service At: Riggs, Kentucky
Born: December 14, 1922 – Russell County, Kentucky
Departed: February 25, 1984
Accredited to: Kentucky
Summary of Action
On November 13, 1944, the 35th Infantry Division launched its assault on the village of Achain. As Company G pressed in from the east, Staff Sergeant Junior J. Spurrier did something no one expected — he broke off on his own, circling the village and charging in from the west alone.
Armed first with a BAR, then whatever weapons he could capture or scavenge, Spurrier fought a one-man battle through streets crawling with German soldiers. Rifle fire, machine-gun bursts, and grenades erupted around him as he switched between American and German weapons — a BAR, an M1, captured rocket launchers, a German machine pistol, hand grenades… anything that kept him in the fight.
Through the afternoon and into dusk, Spurrier cut through the enemy defenses with relentless momentum. By the time the village was secured, he had single-handedly killed three in his opening assault, then an additional twenty-four German soldiers, and captured two officers and two enlisted men. His rampage broke the back of the German garrison and allowed Company G to seize Achain with minimal losses.
Staff Sergeant Junior J. Spurrier’s fearless, almost unbelievable one-man assault stands as one of the most extraordinary individual feats of World War II — the kind of valor that defies explanation, except that he simply refused to stop fighting.
Medal of Honor Citation
