Lieutenant Junior Grade Albert Leroy David served in World War II as an assistant engineering and electrical officer on the USS Pillsbury.

On June 4th, 1944, the Pillsbury’s hunter-killer group located a German U-boat 150 miles off the coast of West Africa. They attacked the submarine with depth charges, seriously damaging the ship and forcing the enemy to surface. As they abandoned ship, the German crew rigged demolition charges and cut holes in the hull, hoping to sink the U-boat to prevent their enemies from recovering any sensitive information.

Facing enemy fire, an erratically moving vessel, and the possibility of explosion at any minute, LTJG David led a group of nine men onto the enemy U-boat. They quickly disarmed all the explosives and stopped the ship's flooding, allowing it to be recovered and hauled to the U.S..  

On board, they recovered classified materials, charts, codebooks and enigma decoding machines. This became crucial information to the U.S., allowing allies to break German map code to locate U-boats, as well as decode German submarine radio messages in real time. The technology and advanced systems recovered on the ship also provided valuable information to the U.S.

As a result of this success David was promoted to Lieutenant and recommended for the Medal of Honor. Unfortunately, he passed away before he could receive it. On September 17th, 1945, just two months before the ceremony, he died of a heart attack.

On November 9th, 1945 Lieutenant Albert Leroy David was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The Medal was presented to his wife, and it now sits on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, along with U-505.

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SSG Ronald J. Shurer served in the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) as a Medical Sergeant. On April 6th, 2008, his unit embarked on Operation Commando Wrath, a mission to capture or kill high-value targets in Shok Valley. The operation would later be named The Battle of Shok Valley.

For six hours, Shurer and his unit came under RPG, machine gun, sniper, and small arms fire on the mountain. During that time, Shurer put himself in harm's way numerous times to provide aid to his wounded comrades.

On October 1st, 2018, Ronald J. Shurer II was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Shok Valley. Thanks to Shurer’s incredible bravery, not a single American died in the battle.

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On June 3rd, 1944, Private Herbert Christian and Private Elden Johnson were on a patrol looking for enemy Germans. At 1am, they were ambushed, and came under suffocating fire from nearly all sides. Seeing no other options, Christian and Johnson stood up amidst the fire and advanced, drawing the enemy’s attention away from their allies and towards themselves. Despite the odds, and Christian even having his leg shot off, they were both able to travel 20 yards and kill multiple enemies before finally being gunned down. In the end, their diversion worked, and 12 of their allies were able to escape to safety. Both Private Herbert Christian and Private Elden Johnson were later awarded the Medal of Honor for the courageous sacrifice.

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Sergeant Darrell S. Cole initially served during World War II as a bugler. He didn’t like the job, and wanted to serve with his unit so badly that he twice took it upon himself to mount unmanned machine guns and join the battle. For this he became known as “The Fighting Field Music”.  Due to his accomplishments and persistence, he was eventually assigned to a machine gun and became squad leader.

During the Battle of Iwo Jima, Sgt. Cole lead his section onto the shore and up the beach through heavy fire. As they advanced, they were pinned down twice by a total of 5 protectedJapanese machine guns. Under intense fire,Cole destroyed all five on his own with a machine gun, grenades, and his pistol. After destroying the fifth, he was killed by an enemy grenade. 

On April 17th, 1947, Darrell S. Cole was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his courage, determination, and sacrifice during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Thanks to Cole, his unit was able to storm the remaining fortifications and seize their objective during a critical period of the battle.

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The Battle of A Shau was a brutal battle that took place in the northern part of South Vietnam. More aptly described as a multi-day defense, less than 450 soldiers faced an onslaught of 2,000 NVA attackers. In this two-part episode, we tell the full story of the battle, and reveal why two of the camp’s defenders, Col. Bernard Francis Fisher and CSM Bennie G. Adkins, were both awarded the Medal of Honor

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The Battle of A Shau was a brutal battle that took place in the northern part of South Vietnam. More aptly described as a multi-day defense, less than 450 soldiers faced an onslaught of 2,000 NVA attackers. In this two-part episode, we tell the full story of the battle, and reveal why two of the camp’s defenders, Col. Bernard Francis Fisher and CSM Bennie G. Adkins, were both awarded the Medal of Honor.

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This week we wanted to share an episode of another podcast we’re excited about; History Daily from Noiser and Airship. Today we’re listening to their episode covering the story of 2d Lt and former Olympian Louis Zamperini, who became a POW after his bomber crashed at sea in WWII.

Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

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Lieutenant Ronald E. Ray was deployed as a platoon leader in the Ia Drang Valley, right on the Cambodian border. After one of his patrols was surrounded by the enemy, Ray took nearly all of his men to rescue them. They successfully broke through enemy lines to reach their allies, where they took fire from all sides. Ray directed their defense while single handedly taking out multiple enemies and machine gun nests, in addition to using his body to protect two of his allies from a grenade explosion. Ray and his team weathered the storm, and Ray only agreed to be evac’ed after all of his men had reached safety.

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Staff Sergeant Salvatore Agustine Giunta deployed to Afghanistan twice, first in 2005 and again in 2007. On the night of October 25th, 2007, then Specialist Giunta and his team were conducting a patrol in the Korengal Valley where they were stationed. After they left their elevated position and began falling back, they were ambushed by 10-15 enemy personnel. Thanks to Giunta’s bravery and leadership, his platoon was able to defeat the enemy and rescue a captured ally.

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To celebrate 100 episodes of the Medal of Honor podcast we are revisiting one of our favorite episodes featuring Daniel Inouye.

The only US Senator so far to receive both the Medal of Honor and the President Medal of Freedom, Senator Daniel Inouye lost his right arm fighting in World War II. He went on to serve nine terms in the Senate and was the highest-ranking Senator at the time of his death in 2012.

Read the AUSA's graphic novel about Sen. Inouye for a gripping retelling and illustration of his story.

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Second Lieutenant Robert Edward Femoyer served in World War II as a navigator on a B-17 bomber. On November 2nd, 1944, Femoyer embarked on only his fifth mission in Europe. He and hundreds of other B-17s were tasked with attacking an extremely well-defended oil refinery in Germany. As they approached the target, their aircraft was hit with three anti-aircraft shells. The impact sent shrapnel into Femoyer’s side and back, knocking him to the ground and severely wounding him. He was offered painkillers, but he refused, knowing that it would hamper his ability to navigate the aircraft. In order to ensure the safety of his crew, he suffered through 2.5 of serious pain in order to traverse the aircraft through flak and guide it back to base. Only upon touching down did he accept the injection of a sedative, but by then it was too late. Femoyer succumbed to his wounds as he was being moved off the plane. 

On May 9th, 1945, Femoyer was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Thanks to his self-sacrifice, the rest of the 10 man crew returned to their base in England safely.

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