World War II was the largest and deadliest war in history. It began with the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland and dragged on for six years, taking more lives and destroying more land around the globe than any previous war.
May 8, 1945, marked the beginning of the end of World War II. Referred to as V-E Day, Victory in Europe Day was the day that Nazi Germany unconditionally surrendered to Allied forces. The War continued in the Pacific Theatre for another 3 months. In the end, 473 Medals of Honor were awarded for action during World War II.
By Katie Cayer, Assistant Archivist
Two weeks before Germany’s surrender, the U.S. Army’s 3rd Division marched into Zeppelinfeld Stadium located southeast of Nuremberg, Germany. Following a victory parade and the draping of the American flag over the giant marble swastika that overlooked Adolf Hitler’s powerful pulpit, five men were given the Medal of Honor for their heroic actions during World War II: Lucian Adams, Keith Ware, John Tominac, Russell Dunham, and Wilburn Ross. Once the five men were decorated, Army engineers blew up the giant swastika.
Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945, and Nazi Germany began to scramble in hopes of maintaining order during the final days. Hitler’s named successor, Grand Admiral Karl Donitz, knew that Germany was not coming out victorious, so he began negotiations for the end of the war with the Allied Forces. On May 4, 1945, the German delegation arrived at the headquarters of British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and he accepted the unconditional surrender of German forces in the Netherlands, Northwest Germany, and Denmark. At the headquarters in Reims, France on May 7, 1945, Supreme Allied Commander General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of all German Forces, which went into effect the following day.
The final two Medal of Honor actions in Germany happened on April 18, 1945, in two different areas of Germany, by Michael Daly and Joseph Merrell.
Daly led his company through a shell-battered, sniper-infested wreckage of Nuremberg on April 18. Ordering his men to take cover when enemy fire caught his unit in an exposed position, he dashed forward alone, shooting a three-man gun crew. He continued his advance alone, securing a vantage point and opened fire on an enemy patrol armed with rocket launchers. Remaining calm, he continued to return fire until the six enemy infantrymen were incapacitated. He then entered a park and a German machine gun opened fire without warning, and he killed the gunner with his carbine and directed machine-gun fire on the remainder of the enemy. In a final duel, he wiped out a third machine gun emplacement with rifle fire.
In a daring one-man attack against a vastly superior enemy force near Lohe, Germany, Merrell’s unit was attempting a quick conquest of hostile hill positions that would open up the route to Nuremberg when they were pinned down by brutal enemy fire. He began a single-handed assault, running 100 yards through concentrated fire, and at point-blank range, engaged four Germans with his rifle. He started forward again, but his rifle was smashed by a sniper bullet, leaving him armed with only three grenades. He did not hesitate, continuing another 200 yards through a hail of bullets to a machine gun nest, where he hurled two grenades and then rushed the position, ready to fight bare handed if needed. He then crawled towards a second machine gun nest, 30 yards away, subduing four Germans in camouflaged foxholes, when he received a critical wound in the abdomen. He still went on, throwing his last grenade into the machine-gun nest and stumbled on to wipe out the crew. He completed this task before a machine pistol burts killed him instantly.
On April 24 and 25, 1945, in the Northern Po Valley, Italy, Raymond Knight piloted a fighter-bomber aircraft in a series of low-level missions, destroying fourteen grounded enemy aircrafts. He led attacks which wrecked ten others during a critical period of the Allied drive in northern Italy. His actions would be the last ones to earn a Medal of Honor before V-E Day in the European Theater.
Despite Germany surrendering to Allied Forces on May 7, 1945, and the end of fighting in the European Theater on May 8, fighting was still going on in the Pacific against Imperial Japan. Soldiers who had previously fought in the European Theater were sent over to the Pacific Theater to aid troops still battling the Japanese. The war would officially be over after the dropping of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with Japan’s leaders agreeing to surrender on August 14, 1945, and the act of surrender signed on September 2, 1945.
Eighteen Medals of Honor would be presented for actions during various battles across the Pacific between V-E Day and August 14, 1945:
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The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Medal of Honor, inspiring America to live the values the Medal represents, and supporting Recipients of the Medal as they connect with communities across America. It survives on private donations.
Chartered by Congress in 1958, its membership consists exclusively of those individuals who have received the Medal of Honor. There are fewer than 65 living Recipients.
The Society carries out its mission through outreach, education and preservation programs, including the Medal of Honor Museum, Medal of Honor Outreach Programs, the Medal of Honor Character Development Program, and the Medal of Honor Citizen Honors Awards for Valor and Service. The Society’s programs and operations are funded by donations.
As part of Public Law 106-83, the Medal of the Honor Memorial Act, the Medal of Honor Museum, which is co-located with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s headquarters on board the U.S.S. Yorktown at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, was designated as one of three national Medal of Honor sites.
Learn more about the Medal of Honor and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s initiatives at cmohs.org