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Herman C. Wallace |
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Engagements: • World War II (1941 - 1945) |
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Biography: | ||||
Herman C. Wallace Private First Class, U.S. Army Medal of Honor Recipient World War II Private First Class Herman C. Wallace (1924 - 27 February 1945) was a U.S. Army soldier who was posthumously awarded the U.S. military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his heroic actions in World War II. Herman C. Wallace was born in 1924 at Marlow, OK. He joined the Army from Lubbock, TX. On 27 February 1945, he was serving as a Private First Class in Company B, 301st Engineer Combat Battalion, 76th Infantry Division. During demining operations near Prümzurlay in Western Germany that day, Wallace stepped on an S-mine. Knowing that if he tried to run away the mine would pop up and explode a few feet off the ground, thus endangering the soldiers near him, he deliberately remained standing on the mine until it detonated. Wallace was killed in the explosion, but the blast was confined to the ground and no other soldiers were injured. For his heroism, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Medal of Honor Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company B, 301st Engineer Combat Battalion, 76th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Prumzurley, Germany, 27 February 1945. Citation: He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity. While helping clear enemy mines from a road, he stepped on a well-concealed S-type antipersonnel mine. Hearing the characteristic noise indicating that the mine had been activated and, if he stepped aside, would be thrown upward to explode above ground and spray the area with fragments, surely killing 2 comrades directly behind him and endangering other members of his squad, he deliberately placed his other foot on the mine even though his best chance for survival was to fall prone. Pvt. Wallace was killed when the charge detonated, but his supreme heroism at the cost of his life confined the blast to the ground and his own body and saved his fellow soldiers from death or injury. Death and Burial Private First Class Herman C. Wallace was killed in action on 27 February 1945. He is buried at the City of Lubbock Cemetery in Lubbock, TX, in Block 41 Lot E 1/2 2 Space 1. |
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Honoree ID: 1696 | Created by: MHOH |