John W. Meagher

Charging enemy positions to break the resistance near Ozato.

John William Meagher was born on 5 December 1917 in Jersey City, New Jersey. Drafted on 21 March 1942, he trained with the newly activated 77th Infantry Division in the United States before serving in the Guam, Leyte and Okinawa campaigns. He served in the United States Army as a technical sergeant with the 2nd Platoon, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 305th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division.

On 19 June 1945 at Ozato, Okinawa, Meagher mounted an assault tank to direct its gunner. He left the tank to stop an enemy soldier approaching with an explosive charge. After being knocked unconscious, he recovered, took a machine gun from the tank and attacked two enemy positions. His advance broke the resistance and enabled his platoon to reach its objective.

President Harry Truman presented Meagher with the Medal of Honor at the White House on 14 June 1946. Meagher died on 14 April 1996 in Lyons, New Jersey, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Medal of Honor citation

He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. In the heat of the fight, he mounted an assault tank, and, with bullets splattering about him, designated targets to the gunner. Seeing an enemy soldier carrying an explosive charge dash for the tank treads, he shouted fire orders to the gunner, leaped from the tank, and bayonetted the charging soldier.

Knocked unconscious and his rifle destroyed, he regained consciousness, secured a machine gun from the tank, and began a furious one-man assault on the enemy. Firing from his hip, moving through vicious crossfire that ripped through his clothing, he charged the nearest pillbox, killing six. Going on amid the hail of bullets and grenades, he dashed for a second enemy gun, running out of ammunition just as he reached the position.

He grasped his empty gun by the barrel and in a violent onslaught killed the crew. By his fearless assault T/Sgt. Meagher singlehandedly broke the enemy resistance, enabling his platoon to take its objective and continue the advance.

He left the Army as a technical sergeant.