Ola Lee Mize

At Outpost Harry he rose after three blasts and fought back.

Ola Lee Mize kept returning to the fight after artillery and grenade blasts threw him down three times. During the night of 10–11 June 1953, the Army sergeant defended Outpost Harry near Surang-ni, Korea, with Company K, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. He rescued a wounded comrade, helped organize the defense, fought through enemy-held bunkers, and later helped direct artillery fire and prepare a dawn counterattack. He repeatedly moved between threatened positions to keep the outpost from being overrun.

Mize was born in Marshall County, Alabama, on 28 August 1931. He grew up in poverty, worked in the fields, and left school after ninth grade to help support his family. His first attempt to enlist was rejected because he was underweight. He entered the Army on 18 April 1950 and, after basic and airborne training, joined the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment at Fort Bragg. In 1952 he was assigned to the 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, in Korea.

Official Medal of Honor citation:

THE PRESIDENT of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress March 3, 1863 has awarded in the name of The Congress the Medal of Honor to

SERGEANT FIRST CLASS (THEN SERGEANT) OLA L. MIZE, USA

for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy: Sergeant Mize, Infantry, United States Army, a member of Company K, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and outstanding courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy near Surang-ni, Korea, on 10-11 June 1953. Company K was defending "Outpost Harry," a strategically valuable position, when the enemy launched a heavy attack. Learning that a wounded comrade lay helpless at a friendly listening post, Sergeant Mize with a medical aid man moved through intense enemy fire and rescued him. On returning to his position Sergeant Mize organized an effective defense and inflicted heavy casualties against the continuously and fiercely attacking enemy. During this period he was knocked down three times by the concussion of artillery and grenade blasts but each time he dauntlessly arose and resumed the violent combat. When enemy onslaughts ceased temporarily with the enemy in possession of friendly emplacements in the outpost area, he led his few remaining men from bunker to bunker, firing into the apertures, throwing grenades at the entrenched foe, and effectively neutralizing their positions. When an enemy soldier suddenly stepped from cover prepared to fire at one of Sergeant Mize's men, Sergeant Mize killed him saving the life of his fellow-soldier. After rejoining the platoon, he observed that a friendly machine gun had been overrun. Unhesitatingly, he fought his way to the position, single-handedly killing ten of the enemy and dispersing the remainder. Fighting his way back to his command post he took a position to protect several wounded soldiers. Later, securing a radio, he directed friendly artillery fire upon the attacking enemy's routes of approach and at dawn he helped regroup for a counterattack which drove the enemy from the outpost. Sergeant Mize's valorous conduct and unflinching courage reflect lasting glory upon himself and uphold the noble traditions of the military service.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower presented Mize with the Medal of Honor at Lowry Air Force Base in Colorado on 7 September 1954. Mize received a commission in 1956 and later joined Army Special Forces. He served in Vietnam, including assignments with the 5th Special Forces Group.

His subsequent career included responsibility for advanced SCUBA, high-altitude parachuting and SKY HOOK training. He helped establish the Special Forces underwater operations school at Key West, which opened in 1965. Returning to Fort Bragg in 1975, he served in field and resistance training leadership and subsequently commanded the Special Forces School.

Mize retired as a colonel in 1981 after more than thirty years in the Army. He died on 12 March 2014, aged 82.