John D. Magrath

He seized enemy guns and fired them against enemy positions.

John D. Magrath was born on July 4, 1924, in East Norwalk, Connecticut. He served as a private first class in Company G, 85th Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, during World War II.

On April 14, 1945, near Castel d'Aiano, Italy, heavy fire pinned down his company. Magrath volunteered to scout ahead with his rifle. He captured an enemy machine gun and carried it across open ground, using it to neutralize further positions firing on the company. After his comrades secured new ground, enemy artillery and mortar fire intensified. Magrath volunteered again, this time to gather a casualty report, and died while carrying out that task.

He received the Medal of Honor posthumously and was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Norwalk. His award commemorates two voluntary missions under fire: opening a path through enemy defenses and returning into danger to establish what had happened to fellow soldiers.

Official citation He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty when his company was pinned down by heavy artillery, mortar, and small-arms fire, near Castel d'Aiano, Italy. Volunteering to act as scout, armed with only a rifle, he charged headlong into withering fire, killing two Germans and wounding three in order to capture a machine gun. Carrying this weapon across an open field through heavy fire, he neutralized two more machine-gun nests; he then circled behind four other Germans, killing them with a burst as they were firing on his company. Spotting another dangerous enemy position to his right, he knelt with the machine gun in his arms and exchanged fire with the Germans until he had killed two and wounded three. The enemy now poured increased mortar and artillery fire on the company's newly won position. Pfc. Magrath fearlessly volunteered again to brave the shelling in order to collect a report of casualties. Heroically carrying out this task, he made the supreme sacrifice a climax to the valor and courage that are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.