Herman C. Wallace

Private First Class · U.S. Army

U.S. Army, Company B, 301st Engineer Combat Battalion, 76th Infantry Division

27 February 1945 · Prumzurley, Germany

Branch: U.S. Army
Era: World War II
Home state: Texas
Action: Prumzurley, Germany

The citation

Official 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.

Sources

U.S. Army Medal of Honor citation index
Wikipedia. Linked only. The article text is not copied here.