Fred B. McGee

He held the line, then braved enemy fire to save the wounded

Fred B. McGee earned the Medal of Honor for extraordinary courage on Hill 528 during the Korean War. On 16 June 1952, near Tang-Wan-Ni, the U.S. Army infantryman assumed command of his battered squad, maintained machine-gun fire against fortified enemy positions and remained behind during the withdrawal to help wounded soldiers escape. His Silver Star for that action was upgraded to the Medal of Honor more than seventy years later. (cmohs.org, army.mil)

Born in Steubenville, Ohio, on 30 May 1930, McGee was the sixth of eight children. His family moved to nearby Bloomingdale while he was still a toddler. He enlisted in the Army in May 1951 and served in Korea with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. (army.mil)

During the assault on Hill 528, McGee operated a light machine gun from an exposed position under concentrated enemy fire. When his squad leader and several soldiers were wounded, he took command and moved his men farther forward to suppress an enemy machine gun threatening another assault platoon. After his machine gunner was mortally wounded, McGee again took over the weapon.

Ordered to withdraw, he sent his squad back and stayed to assist the casualties. Although wounded in the face, he exposed himself to enemy fire while attempting to recover the company runner’s body. Unable to bring the body out, he helped another wounded soldier reach safety through intense mortar and artillery fire. (cmohs.org)

After active duty, McGee served three years in the Army Reserve and returned to Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel. An accomplished baseball player, he later coached and umpired youth and high-school games. His continuing community service earned the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s Above & Beyond Citizen Honors Award in 2009. (army.mil)

McGee died in Pittsburgh on 3 January 2020, aged 89. Exactly five years later, President Joe Biden presented his posthumous Medal of Honor to his daughter, Victoria Secrest. South Korea subsequently honoured him with its highest military decoration, the Taegeuk Order of Military Merit, on 27 July 2025. Together, these awards recognized the courage and concern for his fellow soldiers that he demonstrated on Hill 528. (cmohs.org, army.mil, korea.kr)