Troy A. McGill

He held his shattered position until his final rifle charge.

Troy A. McGill was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on 15 July 1914. His Army service was accredited to Ada, Oklahoma, where he enlisted before the United States entered the Second World War. He became a sergeant in Troop G, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. Despite its cavalry designation, the regiment fought as infantry during the Pacific campaign.

In early 1944 the division took part in the Admiralty Islands operation. American troops landed on Los Negros and had to secure their foothold against repeated Japanese attacks. McGill’s final action occurred during the defence of that position on 4 March.

His Medal of Honor citation describes a squad of eight men occupying a revetment forward of the main defensive perimeter. Approximately two hundred Japanese troops attacked across the ground in front of them. McGill encouraged his men to hold their fire until the attackers were close, then directed a sustained defence. As the fighting continued, all but one of his squad became casualties.

He ordered the remaining man to withdraw to a safer position and continued firing alone. When his rifle ceased to function and enemy soldiers were only a few yards away, he left the revetment and fought with the weapon as a club. He was killed in this final resistance. The citation records the large number of enemy dead subsequently found around the position and credits his stand with protecting his comrades (Congressional Medal of Honor Society, https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/troy-a-mcgill).

McGill was twenty-nine when he died. The Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously in September 1944. His body was eventually returned to Tennessee and buried in Knoxville National Cemetery. The burial brought his story back to the city where he had been born, while his Oklahoma enlistment connection remained part of his military identity.

The Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame later honoured him among the state’s recipients of the Medal of Honor. His commemoration also belongs to the history of the 1st Cavalry Division and its transition from mounted service to Pacific warfare. The surviving account is concentrated on the defence of a small position and the decision that allowed its last mobile defender to escape.