McGRAW, FRANCIS X. - Medal of Honor Recipient
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company H, 26th
Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Schevenhutte, Germany,
19 November 1944. Entered service at: Camden. N.J. Birth: Philadelphia,
Pa. G.O. No.: 92, 25 October 1945. Citation: He manned a heavy machinegun
emplaced in a foxhole near Schevenhutte, Germany, on 19 November 1944,
when the enemy launched a fierce counterattack. Braving an intense hour-long
preparatory barrage, he maintained his stand and poured deadly accurate
fire into the advancing foot troops until they faltered and came to a halt.
The hostile forces brought up a machinegun in an effort to dislodge him
but were frustrated when he lifted his gun to an exposed but advantageous
position atop a log, courageously stood up in his foxhole and knocked out
the enemy weapon. A rocket blasted his gun from position, but he retrieved
it and continued firing. He silenced a second machinegun and then made
repeated trips over fire-swept terrain to replenish his ammunition supply.
Wounded painfully in this dangerous task, he disregarded his injury and
hurried back to his post, where his weapon was showered with mud when another
rocket barely missed him. In the midst of the battle, with enemy troops
taking advantage of his predicament to press forward, he calmly cleaned
his gun, put it back into action and drove off the attackers. He continued
to fire until his ammunition was expended, when, with a fierce desire to
close with the enemy, he picked up a carbine, killed 1 enemy soldier, wounded
another and engaged in a desperate firefight with a third until he was
mortally wounded by a burst from a machine pistol. The extraordinary heroism
and intrepidity displayed by Pvt. McGraw inspired his comrades to great
efforts and was a major factor in repulsing the enemy attack.
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