Frank Dabney Peregory

He stormed a trench alone and broke the enemy's machine gun.

Technical Sergeant Frank Dabney Peregory, whose family surname was Peregoy, received the Medal of Honor for charging an entrenched German position near Grandcamp-Maisy, France, two days after the D-Day landings. His advance through withering fire on 8 June 1944 captured the trench line, silenced its machine guns and reopened the 116th Infantry Regiment’s advance.

Born at Esmont, Virginia, Peregory joined the Virginia National Guard’s Company K, 116th Infantry Regiment, in 1931, when he was fifteen. The unit entered federal service in 1941 and became part of the 29th Infantry Division. Before the Normandy invasion, while on duty in North Carolina, Peregory rescued a fellow soldier from drowning and received the Soldier’s Medal for this act of noncombat heroism.

Peregory landed at Omaha Beach with his regiment on 6 June 1944. On 8 June, near Grandcamp-Maisy, German machine-gun fire stopped the 3rd Battalion on high ground overlooking the town. After artillery and tanks failed to destroy the position, Peregory advanced alone, found a trench leading toward the fortifications and entered it under fire. He fought the defenders with grenades and bayonet, killed eight and forced three to surrender. Moving farther along the trench, he compelled 32 more riflemen to surrender and captured the machine-gun crews. His attack allowed the battalion to continue toward its objective.

Peregory was killed in action on 14 June 1944, during the Normandy campaign. The Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously and presented to his widow, Bessie, in Charlottesville in June 1945. He is buried at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. He remains the only Virginia National Guard soldier awarded the Medal of Honor for World War II service.

Medal of Honor citation: “On 8 June 1944, the 3d Battalion of the 116th Infantry was advancing on the strongly held German defenses at Grandcampe, France, when the leading elements were suddenly halted by decimating machinegun fire from a firmly entrenched enemy force on the high ground overlooking the town. After numerous attempts to neutralize the enemy position by supporting artillery and tank fire had proved ineffective, T/Sergeant Peregory, on his own initiative, advanced up the hill under withering fire, and worked his way to the crest where he discovered an entrenchment leading to the main enemy fortifications 200 yards away. Without hesitating, he leaped into the trench and moved toward the emplacement. Encountering a squad of enemy riflemen, he fearlessly attacked them with handgrenades and bayonet, killed 8 and forced 3 to surrender. Continuing along the trench, he single-handedly forced the surrender of 32 more riflemen, captured the machine gunners, and opened the way for the leading elements of the battalion to advance and secure its objective. The extraordinary gallantry and aggressiveness displayed by T/Sergeant Peregory are exemplary of the highest tradition of the armed forces.”