Noah O. Knight

He stopped enemy soldiers carrying explosives into his lines

Noah Odell Knight earned the Medal of Honor for defending his company’s position near Kowang-San, Korea, on 23–24 November 1951. A private first class in Company F, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, he fought on after enemy fire destroyed his bunker and wounded him.

Knight was born in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, on 29 October 1929, one of eight children of Jarvis and Sophronia Knight. He enlisted in the Army in October 1948. After training in the United States, he married shortly before deploying to Korea in August 1951.

During the attack on his company’s defensive perimeter, Knight moved into the open to fire on the advancing enemy. Later he counterattacked an infiltrating squad. When his ammunition ran out, he saw three enemy soldiers entering the position with demolition charges. He rushed them and disabled two with his rifle butt. The third detonated an explosive, killing the attackers and mortally wounding Knight. His intervention protected the soldiers around him.

Knight died on 24 November 1951, aged twenty-two. His widow, Bechey Knight, received his posthumous Medal of Honor at the Pentagon on 7 January 1953, with members of his family present. He is buried at Union Hill Baptist Church in Pageland, South Carolina. His Medal of Honor is displayed at the Army Basic Combat Training Museum at Fort Jackson.

Medal of Honor citation

Pfc. Knight, a member of Company F, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. He occupied a key position in the defense perimeter when waves of enemy troops passed through their own artillery and mortar concentrations and charged the company position. Two direct hits from an enemy emplacement demolished his bunker and wounded him. Disregarding personal safety, he moved to a shallow depression for a better firing vantage. Unable to deliver effective fire from his defilade position, he left his shelter, moved through heavy fire in full view of the enemy and, firing into the ranks of the relentless assailants, inflicted numerous casualties, momentarily stemming the attack. Later during another vicious onslaught, he observed an enemy squad infiltrating the position and, counterattacking, killed or wounded the entire group. Expending the last of his ammunition, he discovered three enemy soldiers entering the friendly position with demolition charges. Realizing the explosives would enable the enemy to exploit the breach, he fearlessly rushed forward and disabled two assailants with the butt of his rifle when the third exploded a demolition charge killing the three enemy soldiers and mortally wounding Pfc. Knight. Pfc. Knight's supreme sacrifice and consummate devotion to duty reflect lasting glory on himself and uphold the noble traditions of the military service.