Russell Dunham

Russell E. Dunham was a United States Army infantry platoon sergeant whose extraordinary assault on three German machine-gun positions in the snow-covered hills of Alsace earned him the Medal of Honor. A veteran of the North African, Sicilian, Italian and French campaigns, Dunham survived prolonged frontline combat, two wounds and a brief period of German captivity.

Born on 23 February 1920 in East Carondelet, Illinois, Dunham joined the Army in August 1940. After initially training with the 7th Infantry Division, he joined Company I, 3rd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. He landed in North Africa on 8 November 1942, fought in Sicily in July 1943 and continued through the difficult Italian campaign. He was wounded at Anzio in January 1944 but returned to his unit. His gallantry during fighting in Italy on 2 June 1944 was recognised with the Silver Star.

As heavy casualties mounted, Dunham assumed responsibility for leading infantrymen in combat. His wartime service included southern France, the Vosges Mountains and the advance into Alsace. On 8 January 1945, near Kaysersberg, France, his platoon came under fire from entrenched German positions on Hill 616. Wearing a white mattress cover for camouflage, Dunham advanced ahead of his men and attacked three machine-gun emplacements. Despite a serious gunshot wound across his back, he continued the assault using grenades and his carbine. His official citation credits him with killing nine German soldiers, wounding seven and capturing two, while spearheading an attack that helped relieve the pressure on his platoon.

Later that month, Dunham was caught in an enemy encirclement near Holtzwihr and briefly captured. He escaped during transport and eventually returned to American lines. On 23 April 1945, Lieutenant General Alexander M. Patch III presented him with the Medal of Honor in Nuremberg, Germany. The award was officially recorded in War Department General Orders No. 37, dated 11 May 1945.

Following the war, Dunham devoted many years to helping veterans obtain benefits and recognition. He also helped establish a memorial honouring the 3rd Infantry Division at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. He died on 6 April 2009 in Godfrey, Illinois, leaving a legacy of battlefield courage, infantry leadership and lifelong service to fellow veterans.

Medal of Honor citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. At about 1430 hours on 8 January 1945, during an attack on Hill 616, near Kayserberg, France, T/Sergeant Dunham single-handedly assaulted 3 enemy machineguns. Wearing a white robe made of a mattress cover, carrying 12 carbine magazines and with a dozen hand grenades snagged in his belt, suspenders, and buttonholes, T/Sergeant Dunham advanced in the attack up a snow-covered hill under fire from 2 machineguns and supporting riflemen. His platoon 35 yards behind him, T/Sergeant Dunham crawled 75 yards under heavy direct fire toward the timbered emplacement shielding the left machinegun. As he jumped to his feet 10 yards from the gun and charged forward, machinegun fire tore through his camouflage robe and a rifle bullet seared a 10-inch gash across his back sending him spinning 15 yards down hill into the snow. When the indomitable sergeant sprang to his feet to renew his 1-man assault, a German egg grenade landed beside him. He kicked it aside, and as it exploded 5 yards away, shot and killed the German machinegunner and assistant gunner. His carbine empty, he jumped into the emplacement and hauled out the third member of the gun crew by the collar. Although his back wound was causing him excruciating pain and blood was seeping through his white coat, T/Sergeant Dunham proceeded 50 yards through a storm of automatic and rifle fire to attack the second machinegun. Twenty-five yards from the emplacement he hurled 2 grenades, destroying the gun and its crew; then fired down into the supporting foxholes with his carbine dispatching and dispersing the enemy riflemen. Although his coat was so thoroughly blood-soaked that he was a conspicuous target against the white landscape, T/Sergeant Dunham again advanced ahead of his platoon in an assault on enemy positions farther up the hill. Coming under machinegun fire from 65 yards to his front, while rifle grenades exploded 10 yards from his position, he hit the ground and crawled forward. At 15 yards range, he jumped to his feet, staggered a few paces toward the timbered machinegun emplacement and killed the crew with hand grenades. An enemy rifleman fired at pointblank range, but missed him. After killing the rifleman, T/Sergeant Dunham drove others from their foxholes with grenades and carbine fire. Killing 9 Germans, wounding 7 and capturing 2, firing about 175 rounds of carbine ammunition, and expending 11 grenades, T/Sergeant Dunham, despite a painful wound, spearheaded a spectacular and successful diversionary attack.