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Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company K, 119th Infantry,
30th Infantry Division. Place and date: Wurselen, Germany, 16 November
1944. Entered service at: Shamokin, Pa. Birth: Mount Carmel, Pa. G.O. No.:
95, 30 October 1945. Citation: S/Sgt. Horner and other members of his company
were attacking Wurselen, Germany, against stubborn resistance on 16 November
1944, when machinegun fire from houses on the edge of the town pinned the
attackers in flat, open terrain 100 yards from their objective. As they
lay in the field, enemy artillery observers directed fire upon them, causing
serious casualties. Realizing that the machineguns must be eliminated in
order to permit the company to advance from its precarious position, S/Sgt.
Horner voluntarily stood up with his submachine gun and rushed into the
teeth of concentrated fire, burdened by a heavy load of ammunition and
hand grenades. Just as he reached a position of seeming safety, he was
fired on by a machinegun which had remained silent up until that time.
He coolly wheeled in his fully exposed position while bullets barely missed
him and killed 2 hostile gunners with a single, devastating burst. He turned
to face the fire of the other 2 machineguns, and dodging fire as he ran,
charged the 2 positions 50 yards away. Demoralized by their inability to
hit the intrepid infantryman, the enemy abandoned their guns and took cover
in the cellar of the house they occupied. S/Sgt. Horner burst into the
building, hurled 2 grenades down the cellar stairs, and called for the
Germans to surrender. Four men gave up to him. By his extraordinary courage,
S/Sgt. Horner destroyed 3 enemy machinegun positions, killed or captured
7 enemy, and cleared the path for his company's successful assault on Wurselen.
This data was extracted from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. Senate, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863-1973 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1973)
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