Top image: Pvt. Robert D. Booker, US Army, Medal of Honor Recipient, Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

Robert D. Booker was born on July 11, 1920, in Callaway, Nebraska, where he joined the US Army in June 1942. After basic training, Private Booker was assigned to the 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, and sent to Africa. Booker bravely served for almost a year during the Allied North African Campaign before he was fatally wounded during an incursion with enemy forces. 

On April 9, 1943, despite hostile enemy fire, Booker crossed an open field near Fondouk, Tunisia, carrying a machine gun and a box of ammunition. Once he reached his intended location, nearly 200 yards away, Booker set up his machine gun and began firing on enemy targets. After being shot and injured, he continued firing his weapon and eventually destroyed an enemy machine gun. As he turned to fire on a second enemy machine gun, Booker was shot again, this time fatally. Before he died, however, Booker remained restrained and unfazed as he continued to encourage his squad and help direct their fire. 

For his courageous actions, Booker was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on April 25, 1944, along with the Purple Heart. His Medal of Honor citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action. On 9 April 1943 in the vicinity of Fondouk, Tunisia, Pvt. Booker, while engaged in action against the enemy, carried a light machine gun and a box of ammunition over 200 yards of open ground. He continued to advance despite the fact that two enemy machine guns and several mortars were using him as an individual target. Although enemy artillery also began to register on him, upon reaching his objective he immediately commenced firing. After being wounded he silenced one enemy machine gun and was beginning to fire at the other when he received a second mortal wound. With his last remaining strength, he encouraged the members of his squad and directed their fire. Pvt. Booker acted without regard for his own safety. His initiative and courage against insurmountable odds are an example of the highest standard of self-sacrifice and fidelity to duty.

Booker was 22 years old at the time of his death. He is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery in his hometown of Callaway, Nebraska.