John S. Darrough

John Samuel Darrough was a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War who was awarded the Medal of Honor, the United States military's highest decoration, for his heroic actions during a skirmish near Eastport, Mississippi.

Born in Kentucky, Darrough moved to Illinois as a child and later enlisted in the Union Army from that state to serve in the Civil War. During a critical mission to destroy a Confederate railway, Darrough and his fellow soldiers found themselves stranded on the shore of the Tennessee River under intense enemy fire.

Although Darrough had successfully found a canoe to cross the river to safety, he chose to voluntarily return to the Confederate-held shore. His selfless return was driven by the need to rescue a fellow soldier who was in imminent danger of drowning, an act of bravery that earned him the nation's highest military honor.