Archer T. Gammon

Charged Through Deep Snow and Forced a Tank Back

Archer T. Gammon was a United States Army staff sergeant who received the Medal of Honor for attacking German positions near Bastogne during World War II. He was born on 11 September 1918 in Chatham, Virginia, and served in Company A, 9th Armored Infantry Battalion, 6th Armored Division.

On 11 January 1945, Gammon charged through hip-deep snow to destroy a machine-gun position blocking his platoon. When another machine gun and a Tiger Royal tank opened fire from the flank, he attacked again. After eliminating the second gun crew, he advanced close enough to threaten the tank with grenades. The tank began withdrawing but killed him with a direct hit. His attacks cleared the way for the platoon to advance.

Full Medal of Honor citation:

“He charged 30 yards through hip-deep snow to knock out a machine gun and its three-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 machine gun supported by riflemen opened fire and a Tiger Royal tank sent 88-mm shells screaming at the unit from the left flank. SSgt. Gammon, disregarding all thoughts of personal safety, rushed forward, then cut to the left, crossing the width of a 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 machine gun emplaced near the tank. He charged the automatic weapon, wiped out its crew of four with grenades, and, with supreme daring, advanced to within 25 yards of the armored vehicle, killing two 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 singlehanded 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, SSgt. Gammon cleared the woods of German forces, for the tank continued to withdraw, leaving open the path for the gallant squad leader’s platoon.”

Gammon’s Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously. He is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Danville, Virginia. His citation records how a squad leader’s repeated attacks protected his platoon even against an armored vehicle.