John Randolph McKinney

Defending a Luzon outpost against a dawn assault

John Randolph McKinney was born on February 26, 1921, in Woodcliff, Georgia. He served in Company A, 123rd Infantry Regiment, 33rd Infantry Division of the United States Army.

On May 11, 1945, near Dingalan Bay on Luzon, Japanese troops attacked his company's outpost before dawn. McKinney, then a private, was resting near a machine-gun position when an attacker struck him. He seized his rifle and fought back.

As his comrades carried a wounded man to safety, he confronted enemy soldiers who had captured the machine gun. He retook the emplacement and continued defending the position with his rifle after the gun became unusable. Changing position and replenishing ammunition, he held off the assault until help arrived. His stand protected the company from being overrun.

President Harry Truman presented his Medal of Honor at the White House on January 23, 1946. McKinney attained the rank of sergeant. He died on April 4, 1997, in Augusta, Georgia, and is buried at Doubleheads Baptist Church Cemetery in Sylvania.

Official Medal of Honor citation:

He fought with extreme gallantry to defend the outpost which had been established near Dingalan Bay. Just before daybreak approximately 100 Japanese stealthily attacked the perimeter defense, concentrating on a light machine-gun position manned by three Americans. Having completed a long tour of duty at this gun, Pvt. McKinney was resting a few paces away when an enemy soldier dealt him a glancing blow on the head with a saber.

Although dazed by the stroke, he seized his rifle, bludgeoned his attacker, and then shot another assailant who was charging him. Meanwhile, one of his comrades at the machine gun had been wounded and his other companion withdrew carrying the injured man to safety. Alone, Pvt. McKinney was confronted by 10 infantrymen who had captured the machine gun with the evident intent of reversing it to fire into the perimeter.

Leaping into the emplacement, he shot seven of them at point-blank range and killed three more with his rifle butt. In the melee the machine gun was rendered inoperative, leaving him only his rifle with which to meet the advancing Japanese, who hurled grenades and directed knee mortar shells into the perimeter. He warily changed position, secured more ammunition, and reloading repeatedly, cut down waves of the fanatical enemy with devastating fire or clubbed them to death in hand-to-hand combat.

When assistance arrived, he had thwarted the assault and was in complete control of the area. Thirty-eight dead Japanese around the machine gun and two more at the side of a mortar 45 yards distant was the amazing toll he had exacted singlehandedly. By his indomitable spirit, extraordinary fighting ability, and unwavering courage in the face of tremendous odds, Pvt. McKinney saved his company from possible annihilation and set an example of unsurpassed intrepidity.