Robert Dale Maxwell

HE SHIELDED THREE COMRADES FROM A GRENADE WITH HIS OWN BODY.

Robert Dale Maxwell (October 26, 1920–May 11, 2019) was a U.S. Army communications specialist and infantryman who received the Medal of Honor for shielding three fellow soldiers from a hand grenade during the fighting near Besançon, France. Born in Boise, Idaho, he was raised by his grandparents in Kansas and later worked as a timber and ranch laborer in Colorado. Drafted into the Army during the Second World War, he served in North Africa and Italy before joining the 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, in France, where his technical specialty was maintaining the communications lines that linked the battalion’s forward positions.

On September 7, 1944, Maxwell was stringing telephone wire at a battalion observation post near Besançon when German infantry, supported by machine guns, grenades, and flak, attacked at close range. With three other soldiers, he helped defend the post using .45-caliber pistols. As the small group faced a much larger force, Maxwell’s composure helped sustain the defense. When a grenade landed among them, he covered it with a blanket and threw himself on top of it. The explosion permanently injured him, but saved his comrades and allowed vital communications to be maintained while the battalion headquarters withdrew. The Medal of Honor citation commends his conspicuous gallantry, his steadiness under pressure, and his willingness to absorb the blast to protect others.

Maxwell received the Medal of Honor in Denver on May 12, 1945. He later described the medal as representing the sacrifices of all who served, rather than a personal achievement. After the war he left the Army and devoted much of his life to education, establishing programs in Oregon schools. He taught automotive mechanics at Lane Community College from 1966 until his retirement in 1986. He died in Bend, Oregon, in 2019 at age 98. His service joined technical skill with battlefield courage: the communications work he had been assigned to do remained essential even as his post came under direct attack.

Sources: “MAXWELL, ROBERT D.,” Medal of Honor Citations, The United States Army; “Medal of Honor Monday: Army Cpl. Robert Maxwell,” U.S. Department of Defense; “Medal of Honor Recipient Robert D. Maxwell Passes Away at 98,” Congressional Medal of Honor Society.