Robert Earl Laws

Taking a fortified hill despite repeated wounds

Robert Earl Laws earned the Medal of Honor in Pangasinan Province, Luzon, on January 12, 1945. A staff sergeant in Company G, 169th Infantry Regiment, 43rd Infantry Division, he led an assault across a narrow ridge toward a Japanese pillbox.

Wounded by grenades, Laws continued until he disabled the fortification, then led his squad against entrenched riflemen. He sustained further wounds and fought attackers at close quarters before receiving first aid and evacuation. His leadership helped the squad secure the position.

Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on January 18, 1921, Laws received the medal from President Harry S. Truman on August 23, 1945. He died in Altoona on January 1, 1990, and is buried at Blair Memorial Park in Bellwood.

Medal of Honor citation

He led the assault squad when Company G attacked enemy hill positions. The enemy force, estimated to be a reinforced infantry company, was well-supplied with machine guns, ammunition, grenades, and blocks of TNT, and could be attacked only across a narrow ridge 70 yards long. At the end of this ridge an enemy pillbox and rifle positions were set in rising ground. Covered by his squad, S/Sgt. Laws traversed the hogback through vicious enemy fire until close to the pillbox, where he hurled grenades at the fortification. Enemy grenades wounded him, but he persisted in his assault until one of his missiles found its mark and knocked out the pillbox. With more grenades, passed to him by members of his squad who had joined him, he led the attack on the entrenched riflemen. In the advance up the hill, he suffered additional wounds in both arms and legs, about the body and in the head, as grenades and TNT charges exploded near him. Three Japs rushed him with fixed bayonets, and he emptied the magazine of his machine pistol at them, killing two. He closed in hand-to-hand combat with the third, seizing the Jap's rifle as he met the onslaught. The two fell to the ground and rolled some 50 or 60 feet down a bank. When the dust cleared the Jap lay dead and the valiant American was climbing up the hill with a large gash across the head. He was given first aid and evacuated from the area his courageous determination in the face of formidable odds and while his squad completed the destruction of the enemy position. S/Sgt. Laws' heroic actions provided great inspiration to his comrades, and his courageous determination, in the face of formidable odds and while suffering from multiple wounds, enabled them to secure an important objective with minimum casualties.