John R. Crews (March 8, 1923 – September 25, 1999) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

—for his actions at the

Battle of Buchhof and Stein am Kocher The Battle of Buchhof and Stein am Kocher was a seven-day battle fought between the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen and 253rd Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division (United States), 63rd Infantry Division, First Battalio ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Biography

Crews joined the Army from

Bowlegs, Oklahoma Bowlegs is a town in Seminole County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 357 at the time of the 2020 census. Etymology According to tradition, the community has the name of Billy Bowlegs, a leader of the Seminoles in Florida. Bowlegs ...

in 1942, and by April 8, 1945, was serving as a

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a Military rank, rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administr ...

in Company F, 253rd Infantry Regiment,

63rd Infantry Division 63rd Division may refer to: ; Infantry divisions : *63rd Infantry Division CireneItalian Army (Second World War) *63rd Rifle Division (Soviet Union) *63rd Guards Rifle Division (Soviet Union) *63rd Division (Spain) *63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division ...

. On that day, near Stein-am-Kocher,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, Crews single-handedly destroyed two German emplacements. Crews died at age 76 and was buried in Resthaven Gardens Cemetery,

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

. He is the great-uncle to author

Kambri Crews Kambri Crews (born June 22, 1971) is an American comedic storyteller based in New York City and author of ''The New York Times'' bestseller ''Burn Down the Ground: A Memoir,'' a book about her chaotic childhood with deaf parents. Crews was spotl ...

Medal of Honor citation

Staff Sergeant Crews' official Medal of Honor citation reads:

He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 8 April 1945 near Lobenbacherhof, Germany. As his company was advancing toward the village under heavy fire, an enemy machinegun and
automatic rifle An automatic rifle is a type of Self-loading rifle, autoloading rifle that is capable of fully automatic firearm, automatic fire. Automatic rifles are generally selective fire, select-fire weapons capable of firing in Semi-automatic firearm, semi ...
with rifle support opened upon it from a hill on the right flank. Seeing that his platoon leader had been wounded by their fire, S/Sgt. Crews, acting on his own initiative, rushed the strongpoint with 2 men of his platoon. Despite the fact that 1 of these men was killed and the other was badly wounded, he continued his advance up the hill in the face of terrific enemy fire. Storming the well-dug-in position single-handedly, he killed 2 of the crew of the machinegun at pointblank range with his M 1 rifle and wrested the gun from the hands of the German whom he had already wounded. He then with his rifle charged the strongly emplaced automatic rifle. Although badly wounded in the thigh by crossfire from the remaining enemy, he kept on and silenced the entire position with his accurate and deadly rifle fire. His actions so unnerved the remaining enemy soldiers that 7 of them surrendered and the others fled. His heroism caused the enemy to concentrate on him and permitted the company to move forward into the village.

References

Citations Bibliography * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crews, John R. 1923 births 1999 deaths People from McCurtain County, Oklahoma Military personnel from Oklahoma United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army Medal of Honor recipients World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor

Biography

Medal of Honor citation

See also

References