

Rank and organization: Technical
Sergeant, U.S.
Army, Company I, 30th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place
and date: Near
Kayserberg,
France,
8 January 1945. Entered service at:
Brighton, Ill. Born: 23 February 1920, East
Carondelet,
Ill. G.O. No.: 37, 11 May 1945. Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and
beyond the call of duty. At about 1430
hours on 8 January 1945, during an attack on Hill 616, near Kayserberg,
France, T/Sgt. Dunham single-handedly assaulted 3 enemy machine-guns. Wearing a white robe made of a mattress
cover, carrying 12 carbine magazines and with a dozen hand grenades snagged in
his belt, suspenders, and buttonholes, T/Sgt. Dunham advanced in the attack up
a snow‑covered hill under fire from 2 machine-guns and supporting
riflemen. His platoon 35 yards behind
him, T/Sgt. Dunham crawled 75 yards under heavy direct fire toward the timbered
emplacement shielding the left machine-gun.
As he jumped to his feet 10 yards from the gun and charged forward,
machine-gun fire tore through his camouflage robe and a rifle bullet seared a
10‑inch gash across his back sending him spinning 15 yards down hill into
the snow. When the indomitable sergeant
sprang to his feet to renew his 1‑man assault, a German egg grenade
landed beside him. He kicked it aside,
and as it exploded 5 yards away, shot and killed the German machine-gunner and
assistant gunner. His carbine empty, he
jumped into the emplacement and hauled out the third member of the gun crew by
the collar. Although his back wound was
causing him excruciating pain and blood was seeping through his white coat,
T/Sgt. Dunham proceeded 50 yards through a storm of automatic and rifle fire to
attack the second machine-gun. Twenty‑five
yards from the emplacement he hurled 2 grenades, destroying the gun and its
crew; then fired down into the supporting foxholes with his carbine,
dispatching and dispersing the enemy riflemen.
Although his coat was so thoroughly blood-soaked that he was a
conspicuous target against the white landscape, T/Sgt. Dunham again advanced
ahead of his platoon in an assault on enemy positions farther up the hill. Coming under machine-gun fire from 65 yards
to his front, while rifle grenades exploded 10 yards from his position, he hit
the ground and crawled forward. At 15
yards range, he jumped to his feet, staggered a few paces toward the timbered
machine-gun emplacement and killed the crew with hand grenades. An enemy rifleman fired at pointblank range,
but missed him. After killing the
rifleman, T/Sgt. Dunham drove others from their foxholes with grenades and
carbine fire. Killing 9 Germans
--wounding 7 and capturing 2 --firing about 175 rounds of carbine ammunition,
and expending 11 grenades, T/Sgt. Dunham, despite a painful wound, spearheaded
a spectacular and successful diversionary attack.