Junior D. Edwards

He charged enemy machine guns until he fell mortally wounded

Junior Dean Edwards was a sergeant first class in Company E, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. At Changbong-ni, Korea, on January 2, 1951, enemy machine-gun fire forced his platoon from a strategic hill. He charged the emplacement alone with grenades, then returned for more ammunition and attacked again.

When another machine gun opened fire, Edwards launched a third assault, silencing it but suffering mortal wounds. His actions enabled the platoon to regain and hold the position. Born in Indianola, Iowa, on October 7, 1926, he was buried at the town’s I.O.O.F. Cemetery. His father received his posthumous Medal of Honor in January 1952.

Medal of Honor citation

Sfc. Edwards, Company E, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. When his platoon, while assisting in the defense of a strategic hill, was forced out of its position and came under vicious raking fire from an enemy machine gun set up on adjacent high ground, Sfc. Edwards individually charged the hostile emplacement, throwing grenades as he advanced. The enemy withdrew, but returned to deliver devastating fire when he had expended his ammunition. Securing a fresh supply of grenades, he again charged the emplacement, neutralized the weapon, and killed the crew, but was forced back by hostile small-arms fire. When the enemy emplaced another machine gun and resumed fire, Sfc. Edwards again renewed his supply of grenades, rushed a third time through a vicious hail of fire, silenced this second gun, and annihilated its crew. In this third daring assault he was mortally wounded, but his indomitable courage and successful action enabled his platoon to regain and hold the vital strongpoint. Sfc. Edwards' consummate valor and gallant self-sacrifice reflect the utmost glory upon himself and are in keeping with the esteemed traditions of the infantry and military service.