William J. Grabiarz

Shielding a wounded commander under fire in Manila

William J. Grabiarz earned the Medal of Honor for saving his troop commander in Manila on February 23, 1945. A private first class and scout in Troop E, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, he was advancing with tanks when enemy fire struck the officer in an exposed street.

Grabiarz left cover to carry him to safety and was wounded in the shoulder. Unable to move the officer, he covered him with his own body while calling for a tank to shield them. Enemy fire killed Grabiarz before the tank arrived, but his commander survived.

Born in Buffalo, New York, in 1925, Grabiarz received the Medal of Honor posthumously. He was buried at St. Stanislaws Cemetery in Cheektowaga, New York.

Medal of Honor citation

He was a scout when the unit advanced with tanks along a street in Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands. Without warning, enemy machine guns and rifle fire from concealed positions in the Customs building swept the street, striking down the troop commander and driving his men to cover. As the officer lay in the open road, unable to move and completely exposed to the point-blank enemy fire, Pfc. Grabiarz voluntarily ran from behind a tank to carry him to safety, but was himself wounded in the shoulder. Ignoring both the pain in his injured, useless arm and his comrades' shouts to seek the cover which was only a few yards distant, the valiant rescuer continued his efforts to drag his commander out of range. Finding this impossible, he rejected the opportunity to save himself and deliberately covered the officer with his own body to form a human shield, calling as he did so for a tank to maneuver into position between him and the hostile emplacement. The enemy riddled him with concentrated fire before the tank could interpose itself. Our troops found that he had been successful in preventing bullets from striking his leader, who survived. Through his magnificent sacrifice in gallantly giving his life to save that of his commander, Pfc. Grabiarz provided an outstanding and lasting inspiration to his fellow soldiers.