Thomas Edward McCall

He was last seen advancing alone into overwhelming German machine-gun fire. His comrades did not know whether he had survived. Months later, while Thomas Edward McCall remained a prisoner of war in Germany, the United States awarded him the Medal of Honor for one of the most extraordinary acts of courage performed by an American infantryman during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War.

Thomas Edward McCall was born on 9 May 1916 in Burrton, Kansas, and entered United States Army service from Veedersburg, Indiana. During the Second World War he served as a Staff Sergeant with Company F, 2d Battalion, 143d Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division. His Army serial number was 20530711. Before the action that made him a Medal of Honor recipient, McCall had already demonstrated exceptional courage under fire.

On 15 December 1943, during fighting in Italy, McCall was serving as a machine-gun section sergeant when he moved forward alone to establish positions from which his guns could support an American assault on the German defenses. When he discovered that the intended position was occupied by enemy troops, he obtained a Browning Automatic Rifle and attacked the position himself, clearing the area so that his machine guns could be brought forward. McCall was wounded during the attack, but refused to leave his section. He continued distributing ammunition, directing its fire and keeping its weapons in action.

For his gallantry that day, McCall received the Silver Star, awarded in Headquarters, 36th Infantry Division, General Orders No. 70 (1944). His Silver Star citation praised his courage and devotion to duty while serving with Company F, 2d Battalion, 143d Infantry Regiment.

Little more than a month later, McCall entered the action that would define his military career.

On 22 January 1944, near San Angelo, Italy, Company F was committed to the bitter river-crossing battle identified in McCall's official citation as the crossing of the Rapido River. German artillery, mortars, machine guns and small arms covered the approaches. Heavy casualties struck the American force, and the men who reached the far side had to reorganize while still exposed to enemy fire.

McCall calmly rallied his soldiers and led his machine-gun section forward across muddy, exposed ground and through barbed wire. Reaching a road, he personally placed the section's two machine guns where they could support the battalion. An enemy shell then struck one position, killing the assistant gunner, wounding the gunner and destroying the weapon. Despite continuing shellfire, McCall crawled forward to aid the wounded man and helped drag him toward cover.

Moments later, shell fragments incapacitated the crew of the remaining machine gun. McCall was now the only effective member of his machine-gun section. Instead of withdrawing, he took the surviving weapon and advanced alone.

At a range of approximately thirty yards, McCall fired into a German machine-gun position, killing or wounding its crew and silencing the weapon. A second German machine gun immediately opened fire. McCall rushed that position while firing from the hip and killed four members of its crew. He then spotted a third machine gun about fifty yards farther to the rear and continued directly toward it despite the overwhelming fire sweeping the battlefield.

He was last seen advancing on that enemy position with his machine gun firing from the hip.

McCall survived. German forces captured him on 22 January 1944, and he remained a prisoner of war until the closing weeks of the war in Europe in May 1945.

For his actions near San Angelo, Staff Sergeant Thomas E. McCall was awarded the Medal of Honor. His award was published in War Department General Orders No. 31, dated 17 April 1945. The official citation recognized his conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, and concluded that his willingness to sacrifice himself exemplified the highest traditions of the Armed Forces.

While McCall was still in German captivity, his family received his Medal of Honor at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. He eventually returned home alive, despite the uncertainty that had surrounded his fate after the battle.

The Second World War was not the end of McCall's military service. He later returned to active duty during the Korean War, where he was wounded in action, and rose to the rank of Master Sergeant. His Korean service added another chapter to a military career already marked by wounds, captivity and extraordinary battlefield courage.

On 18 September 1965, McCall was fishing with his eight-year-old son on the Susquehanna River below Conowingo Dam in Maryland when their boat was overwhelmed after water was released from the dam. McCall fought to keep his son above the water until rescuers could reach the boy. His son survived. McCall did not.

He was 49 years old.

Thomas Edward McCall was buried with military honors at Spring Vale Cemetery in Lafayette, Indiana. His life had begun far from the battlefields of Europe, but his name became permanently associated with the 36th Infantry Division, the Italian Campaign, the Medal of Honor and an extraordinary record of personal courage.

More than twenty years separated the battlefield near San Angelo from the waters of the Susquehanna River, yet the defining instinct was the same. When another life depended upon him, Thomas Edward McCall placed himself in danger first.