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Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company B, 5th Medical Battalion,
5th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Montereau, France, 25 August
1944. Entered service at: Albion, Ill. Birth: 26 February 1918, Fairfield,
Ill. G.O. No.: 20, 29 March 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and
intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.
On 25 August 1944, in the vicinity of Montereau, France, the enemy was
sharply contesting any enlargement of the bridgehead which our forces had
established on the northern bank of the Seine River in this sector. Casualties
were being evacuated to the southern shore in assault boats paddled by
litter bearers from a medical battalion. Pvt. Garman, also a litter bearer
in this battalion, was working on the friendly shore carrying the wounded
from the boats to waiting ambulances. As 1 boatload of wounded reached
midstream, a German machinegun suddenly opened fire upon it from a commanding
position on the northern bank 100 yards away. All of the men in the boat
immediately took to the water except 1 man who was so badly wounded he
could not rise from his litter. Two other patients who were unable to swim
because of their wounds clung to the sides of the boat. Seeing the extreme
danger of these patients, Pvt. Garman without a moment's hesitation plunged
into the Seine. Swimming directly into a hail of machinegun bullets, he
rapidly reached the assault boat and then while still under accurately
aimed fire towed the boat with great effort to the southern shore. This
soldier's moving heroism not only saved the lives of the three patients
but so inspired his comrades that additional assault boats were immediately
procured and the evacuation of the wounded resumed. Pvt. Garman's great
courage and his heroic devotion to the highest tenets of the Medical Corps
may be written with great pride in the annals of the corps.
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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