Jonah Edward Kelley

He fought with one hand to silence a machine gun as he died.

Jonah Edward Kelley was born at Rada, West Virginia, on 13 April 1923 and grew up in nearby Keyser. He played school football, joined the Boy Scouts and took part in Methodist youth activities. After graduating from Keyser High School in 1941, he attended Potomac State College before entering the Army in March 1943.

He trained with the 78th Infantry Division at Camp Butner and Camp Pickett. Recognized as an effective leader, he became a staff sergeant before the division sailed for Britain in October 1944. The 311th Infantry Regiment crossed to France the following month and entered the fighting near the German frontier in December.

On 30 January 1945, Kelley's squad led an attack through Kesternich. German troops defended barricaded houses with machine guns, mortars and small arms. Kelley was wounded in the back and left hand but refused evacuation. Unable to use both hands normally, he supported his rifle on rubble and pulled grenade pins with his teeth.

He repeatedly led attacks against defended buildings, clearing a path for his squad. That night he organized their positions and remained with them. When the advance resumed on 31 January, he killed a concealed gunner and then found his men held up by another machine gun firing from a house.

Ordering the squad to stay under cover, Kelley advanced alone. Repeatedly hit, he fell to his knees but continued firing until the gun was silenced. He died close to the position, having enabled his company to penetrate the village's remaining defences.

His parents received the posthumous Medal of Honor at Fort Hayes, Ohio, in September 1945. Initially buried overseas, his remains were returned to West Virginia and reburied at Queens Point Cemetery in Keyser in 1948. Army installations, a National Guard armory and military transport ships subsequently carried his name.