Ray E. Eubanks

He charged with his broken rifle to break an enemy position.

Ray Edward Eubanks was born in North Carolina on 6 February 1922. He entered the United States Army from La Grange in 1942 and trained as a paratrooper. By July 1944 he was a sergeant in Company D, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, serving in the Southwest Pacific.

On 23 July, his company moved to assist a platoon isolated by Japanese forces on Noemfoor Island in Dutch New Guinea. A defended enemy position, supported by machine guns, rifles and mortars, prevented the company from advancing.

Eubanks received orders to take a squad forward and neutralize the position. He brought his men close to it, but heavy fire stopped their progress. Leaving them to provide covering fire, he moved ahead with two scouts through a shallow depression.

He then directed the scouts to remain under cover and advanced alone with his automatic rifle. From close range, he fired effectively into the enemy position. The defenders located him and concentrated their fire, wounding him and disabling his weapon.

Despite the injury, he charged. Using the broken rifle as a club, he killed four defenders before further fire killed him. His assault disrupted the position and inspired the company to overcome the remaining opposition and continue towards the isolated platoon.

His Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously in March 1945. His family received the decoration at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in April 1948. He was twenty-two when he died. His service and the final attack on Noemfoor continued to be commemorated by his home community and the airborne regiment with which he had fought.