Medal of Honor Recipients of World War II
The National WWII Museum honors veterans with the ongoing Medal of Honor Series—profiling individuals that went above and beyond the call of duty in every theater of the war. The goal is to represent every Medal of Honor recipient from World War II.
European Theater of Operations
More from Topic-
Article Type
Hitler's Precision Guided Bombs: Fritz X & Hs 293
German technology surpassed the Allies by also producing radio-guided weapons that worked in a combat environment. As early as 1943, the Henschel (Hs) 293 and the Ruhrstahl X-1 (Fritz X) were the first guided bombs employed in combat. These weapons debuted around the time of the Allied assault on Salerno and were a new concern for fleet defense.
-
Article Type
The Battle of Britain: The (Not So) Few
Churchill’s famous quip about the Royal Air Force’s “few” was inspirational, but Fighter Command wasn’t so few and even had several advantages.
-
Article Type
General William H. Simpson’s Ninth US Army and the Liberation of Brest
Historians have debated the logic of fighting to liberate Brest, with some arguing that it would have made more sense to simply bypass the city and isolate the garrison.
-
Article Type
The Liberation of Paris
Despite the impending defeat of the Wehrmacht in France, the victory over Germany would not be complete until the capital of France was liberated, and the Vichy government replaced.
-
Article Type
Schweinfurt–Regensburg Raid: August 17, 1943
The Eighth Air Force’s first penetrating strike into Nazi Germany was a bloody affair that provided lessons for both sides.
-
Article Type
A Costly Failure: Patton’s Raid to Liberate Hammelburg
Allied intelligence believed that most captured American officers were being held at the Hammelburg prisoner of war camp, Oflag XIII-B. This population likely included Patton’s son-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel John Waters, but there was no way to be sure.
-
Article Type
Operation Gomorrah: The First of the Firestorms
The fire seemed to become a living entity, changing course at will, consuming everything in its path, and generating a heat that melted glass and cutlery and turned bricks to ash. For over four hours, Hamburg burned.
-
Article Type
Operation Greif: German Commandos Sow Chaos Dressed in US Uniforms
Adolf Hitler's secret mission to Otto Skorzeny during the Ardennes Counteroffensive would rely on deception, employing English-speaking troops in US Army uniforms and equipment.
Pacific Theater of Operations
More from Topic-
Article Type
Delivering the Atomic Bombs: The Silverplate B-29
Most people are aware that Boeing's B-29 Superfortress was the plane that made the first atomic attacks. However, the B-29s delivering America’s first atomic weapons were far from ordinary.
-
Article Type
General William H. Simpson and the Endgame in China
Operation Rashness, a major fall offensive intended to seize a port on China’s southeast coast, would open sea lines of communication into China for the first time in several years while providing a base of operations for the invasion of southern Japan.
-
Article Type
Benjamin Salomon’s Medal of Honor
Benjamin Salomon, a Jewish American dental officer in the Army, made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of his patients and fellow soldiers in World War II. Almost 60 years after his death in the Pacific, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.
-
Article Type
Operation Vengeance: The Killing of Isoroku Yamamoto
US code breakers deciphering Japanese naval messages provided an opportunity for vengeance in April 1943 after intercepting the travel plans of Japan’s naval commander in chief, the mastermind behind the attack on Pearl Harbor.
-
Article Type
Guadalcanal: The Joint Fight
While the campaign marked the first offensive victory for the Americans, it provided more than just a morale boost and a checking of Japanese aggression. This campaign illustrated the powerful synergy of American joint operations.
-
-
Article Type
Joseph J. Foss' Medal of Honor
Joseph J. Foss was born on April 17, 1915, outside of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and became fascinated with flying at the age of 11 when he saw Charles Lindbergh on tour with his aircraft, the “Spirit of St. Louis”, at an airfield in Renner, South Dakota in 1927.
-
Article Type
From Oahu to Guadalcanal: Charles Willis Davis’s Medal of Honor
World War II ripped millions of men and women from their homes and hurled them around the globe. Americans like Charles Willis Davis discovered, though, under the most extreme circumstances, that they possessed incredible courage and ability.
Explore By Topics
View More-
European Theater of Operations
-
Pacific Theater of Operations
-
Home Front
-
More Topics
Home Front
More from Topic-
Article Type
Standing against "Universal Death": The Russell–Einstein Manifesto
Penned by philosopher Bertrand Russell and endorsed by Albert Einstein, the document warned human beings about the existential threat posed by the new hydrogen bomb.
-
Article Type
1936, a Year for the Worker: Factory Occupations and the Popular Front’s Victory in France
The election of the Popular Front government in France and a wave of factory occupations secured huge gains for French workers.
-
Article Type
The Women's Army Corps and the Manhattan Project
Wilma Betty Gray's WAC journey began when she boarded a train, destination unknown. Her assignment was Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for the Manhattan Project.
-
Article Type
Trinity: Why It Really Mattered
While most people are familiar with the names of “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” as the atomic weapons used over Japan, what they may not be familiar with was how different the respective technologies of each bomb were and why this difference mattered.
-
Article Type
1936, a Year for the Worker: Labor Action and the Reelection of Franklin D. Roosevelt
In 1936, strikes and protests achieved major gains for American workers and set the stage for organized labor’s contribution to the struggle against fascism in World War II.
-
Article Type
Human Rights of Persons with Schizophrenia Before and After Wartime
As World War II approached, schizophrenics became victims of an even greater human rights violation at the hands of the Third Reich.
-
Article Type
The Smith–Connally Act and Labor Battles on the Home Front
War production was crucial for an Allied victory, but what happened when labor strikes challenged the “arsenal of democracy”?
-
Article Type
'Danger! Women at Work': Patsy Kelly's 1943 Romp
Wartime film star Patsy Kelly's most defiant act was being an openly gay woman in an inhospitable climate for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Medal of Honor Recipients of World War II
More from Topic-
Article Type
Rudolph B. Davila's Medal of Honor
Second Lieutenant Rudolph B. Davila, of Spanish-Filipino descent, received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions near Artena, Italy, during World War II.
-
Article Type
Manuel Pérez Jr.’s Medal of Honor
After parachuting on Tagaytay Ridge, Manuel Pérez participated in the horrendous fighting with the Japanese in the Philippines' capital city of Manila, the scene of some of the bloodiest urban combat of the war.
-
Article Type
A 'Gallant Stand' at Monte Battaglia: Manuel V. Mendoza’s Medal of Honor
For what he did on October 4, 1944, Staff Sergeant Manuel V. Mendoza garnered a special place in the history of Nazi Germany’s defeat.
-
Article Type
Johnnie David Hutchins's Medal of Honor
The loss of Johnnie David Hutchins was devastating to his family, but his moment of bravery almost certainly saved other parents and siblings from experiencing that same loss in the fall of 1943.
-
Article Type
John Joseph Parle's Medal of Honor
Navy Ensign John Joseph Parle risked his own life to save a ship and ensure a successful Allied amphibious invasion of Sicily in 1943.
-
Article Type
Robert Craig’s Medal of Honor
For his heroic service as an infantry officer during the Allied invasion of Sicily, Second Lieutenant Robert Craig was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on July 11, 1943.
-
Article Type
George Benton Turner’s Medal of Honor
George Benton Turner joined the US Marine Corps in 1918, but World War I ended before he shipped overseas. When World War II broke out, Turner, now in his early 40s, once again volunteered to fight for his country, this time enlisting in the US Army in October 1942.
-
Article Type
Sacrificing Everything: Isadore S. Jachman’s Medal of Honor
Jewish Americans like Isadore S. Jachman contributed greatly to the American war effort in World War II, risking—and sacrificing—everything in the struggle against fascism.