MULLER, JOSEPH E. - Medal of Honor Recipient
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 305th Infantry,
77th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Ishimmi, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands,
15-16 May 1945. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Holyoke, Mass.
G.O. No.: 71, 17 July 1946. Citation: He displayed conspicuous gallantry
and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. When his platoon was
stopped by deadly fire from a strongly defended ridge, he directed men
to points where they could cover his attack. Then through the vicious machinegun
and automatic fire, crawling forward alone, he suddenly jumped up, hurled
his grenades, charged the enemy, and drove them into the open where his
squad shot them down. Seeing enemy survivors about to man a machinegun,
He fired his rifle at point-blank range, hurled himself upon them, and
killed the remaining 4. Before dawn the next day, the enemy counterattacked
fiercely to retake the position. Sgt. Muller crawled forward through the
flying bullets and explosives, then leaping to his feet, hurling grenades
and firing his rifle, he charged the Japs and routed them. As he moved
into his foxhole shared with 2 other men, a lone enemy, who had been feigning
death, threw a grenade. Quickly seeing the danger to his companions, Sgt.
Muller threw himself over it and smothered the blast with his body. Heroically
sacrificing his life to save his comrades, he upheld the highest traditions
of the military service.
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