Medal of Honor: Manuel Perez, Jr. – U.S. Army – World War II

Name: Manuel Perez, Jr.
Rank: Private First Class
Branch: U.S. Army
Unit: Company A, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division
Place: Fort William McKinley, Luzon, Philippine Islands
Entered Service At: Chicago, Illinois
Born: 3 March 1923, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Summary of Action

On 13 February 1945, Private First Class Manuel Perez, Jr., served as lead scout for Company A during the assault on heavily fortified enemy defenses guarding the approach to Fort William McKinley on Luzon.

His company had already destroyed 11 of 12 pillboxes in the sector, but one final emplacement—armed with two twin-mounted .50-caliber dual-purpose machine guns—remained a deadly obstacle. During the earlier fighting, Pfc. Perez had killed five Japanese soldiers in the open and destroyed others with grenades inside pillboxes.

Recognizing the urgent necessity of eliminating the last position, he maneuvered alone along a circuitous route to within 20 yards of the emplacement, killing four enemy soldiers as he advanced. He hurled a grenade into the pillbox and, as the surviving crew attempted to withdraw through a rear tunnel, he shot and killed four before exhausting his ammunition.

Reloading under fire, he killed four more enemy soldiers. When one escaping Japanese hurled a rifle with fixed bayonet at him, knocking his own weapon from his hands, Pfc. Perez seized the enemy rifle and continued the fight. He killed two more soldiers with gunfire, then rushed the remaining defenders, clubbing three with the rifle butt before entering the pillbox and bayoneting the final surviving enemy soldier.

Single-handedly, he killed 18 enemy troops and neutralized the last strongpoint blocking his company’s advance.

Medal of Honor Citation

PEREZ, MANUEL, JR.

He was lead scout for Company A, which had destroyed 11 of 12 pillboxes in a strongly fortified sector defending the approach to enemy-held Fort William McKinley on Luzon, Philippine Islands. In the reduction of these pillboxes, he killed 5 Japanese in the open and blasted others in pillboxes with grenades. Realizing the urgent need for taking the last emplacement, which contained 2 twin-mount .50-caliber dual-purpose machineguns, he took a circuitous route to within 20 yards of the position, killing 4 of the enemy in his advance. He threw a grenade into the pillbox, and, as the crew started withdrawing through a tunnel just to the rear of the emplacement, shot and killed 4 before exhausting his clip. He had reloaded and killed 4 more when an escaping Japanese threw his rifle with fixed bayonet at him. In warding off this thrust, his own rifle was knocked to the ground. Seizing the Jap rifle, he continued firing, killing 2 more of the enemy. He rushed the remaining Japanese, killed 3 of them with the butt of the rifle and entered the pillbox, where he bayoneted the 1 surviving hostile soldier. Single-handedly, he killed 18 of the enemy in neutralizing the position that had held up the advance of his entire company. Through his courageous determination and heroic disregard of grave danger, Pfc. Perez made possible the successful advance of his unit toward a valuable objective and provided a lasting inspiration for his comrades.