Hubert Louis Lee

Few soldiers in the Korean War demonstrated greater determination under fire than Master Sergeant Hubert Louis Lee. Wounded again and again while leading repeated assaults against a superior enemy force, Lee refused evacuation, continued fighting from the ground when he could no longer stand, and helped his men retake a critical position. His actions near Ip-o-ri, Korea, on 1 February 1951 earned him the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military decoration for valor.

Hubert Louis Lee was born on 2 February 1915 in Arburg, Missouri, the son of Charles and Beulah Lee. By 1920, his family was living in North Little Rock, Arkansas, and they later moved to Leland, Mississippi. Lee made the Army his career. During the Second World War, he served overseas in North Africa and Italy, and he remained in the United States Army after the war. By the outbreak of the Korean War, he had risen to the rank of master sergeant.

In Korea, Lee served with Company I, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division. His courage was already well established before the action that made him a Medal of Honor recipient. On 16 September 1950, near Changnyong, his company was attacking enemy positions along the Naktong River when intense machine gun fire stopped his platoon's advance. According to his Silver Star citation, Lee rushed the hostile machine gun position and destroyed it with hand grenades. When a light artillery weapon then inflicted casualties on the platoon, he again exposed himself to enemy fire, attacked the second position alone, and destroyed it with rifle and grenade fire. His actions allowed the pinned down platoon to resume its advance with fewer casualties. The Silver Star was announced in Headquarters, 2d Infantry Division, General Orders No. 42, dated 17 January 1951, and amended by General Orders No. 117, dated 23 May 1951.

Less than five months later, Lee faced an even greater test. On 1 February 1951 near Ip-o-ri, Korea, a numerically superior enemy force drove his platoon from its position and wounded the platoon leader. Lee immediately assumed command. He gathered the surviving soldiers and led them forward in repeated attempts to recover the lost ground. Within about twenty-five yards of the objective, grenade fragments wounded him in the leg. He refused assistance and continued the attack. Although his small force was driven back five times, Lee reorganized his men after every withdrawal and led them forward again.

During another advance, an exploding grenade knocked Lee to the ground and seriously wounded both of his legs. He still refused aid. Unable to advance normally, he crawled forward, repeatedly rising to his knees to fire his weapon and urge his soldiers onward. While directing the final assault, he was wounded a third time by small-arms fire. Even then he continued forward and directed his men in the successful attack that regained the position. The official Medal of Honor citation credited Lee's leadership and determination with helping bring about the destruction of eighty-three enemy soldiers and forcing the remaining enemy troops to withdraw.

For this extraordinary action, Lee received the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. His award was formally announced in Department of the Army General Orders No. 21, dated 5 February 1952. President Harry S. Truman personally presented the Medal of Honor to Lee at the White House on 29 January 1952. The official Army record identifies him as Master Sergeant Hubert L. Lee of Company I, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division.

Lee survived the severe wounds he received at Ip-o-ri and returned to duty on 26 May 1951. He continued his Army career after the Korean War and later served in Alaska. He retired from the United States Army in 1958, then spent approximately ten years working in civil-service positions in Alaska before returning to Leland, Mississippi. His military career had carried him through two major wars, from the battlefields of North Africa and Italy to some of the fiercest fighting of the Korean War.

Master Sergeant Hubert Louis Lee died on 5 November 1982 at the age of sixty-seven. He was buried at Leland-Stoneville Cemetery in Stoneville, Mississippi. Today he is remembered as a United States Army Medal of Honor recipient whose Korean War record was defined not by a single moment of courage, but by a repeated refusal to abandon his soldiers or surrender the ground entrusted to them. His Silver Star action on the Naktong River and his Medal of Honor action at Ip-o-ri stand as enduring examples of infantry leadership, personal courage, and devotion to duty.