GAMMON, ARCHER T. - Medal of Honor Recipient
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 9th Armored
Infantry Battalion, 6th Armored Division. Place and date: Near Bastogne,
Belgium, 11 January 1945. Entered service at: Roanoke, Va. Birth: 11 September
1918, Chatham, Va. G.O. No.: 18, 13 February 1946. Citation: He charged
30 yards through hip-deep snow to knock out a machinegun and its 3-man
crew with grenades, saving his platoon from being decimated and allowing
it to continue its advance from an open field into some nearby woods. The
platoon's advance through the woods had only begun when a machinegun supported
by riflemen opened fire and a Tiger Royal tank sent 88mm. shells screaming
at the unit from the left flank. S/Sgt. Gammon, disregarding all thoughts
of personal safety, rushed forward, then cut to the left, crossing the
width of the platoon's skirmish line in an attempt to get within grenade
range of the tank and its protecting foot troops. Intense fire was concentrated
on him by riflemen and the machinegun emplaced near the tank. He charged
the automatic weapon, wiped out its crew of 4 with grenades, and, with
supreme daring, advanced to within 25 yards of the armored vehicle, killing
2 hostile infantrymen with rifle fire as he moved forward. The tank had
started to withdraw, backing a short distance, then firing, backing some
more, and then stopping to blast out another round, when the man whose
single-handed relentless attack had put the ponderous machine on the defensive
was struck and instantly killed by a direct hit from the Tiger Royal's
heavy gun. By his intrepidity and extreme devotion to the task of driving
the enemy back no matter what the odds, S/Sgt. Gammon cleared the woods
of German forces, for the tank continued to withdraw, leaving open the
path for the gallant squad leader's platoon.
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