John F. Thorson (May 10, 1920 – October 28, 1944) 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 ...

infantry soldier who was killed in action on October 28, 1944, in

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 ...

. He was a posthumous recipient of the United States military's highest decoration for valor—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 heroic actions above and beyond the call of duty during the war.

Biography

Thorson was the seventh of eight children born to Norwegian immigrants. He joined the U.S. Army from his birth city of

Armstrong, Iowa Armstrong is a city in Emmet County, Iowa, United States. The population was 875 at the 2020 census. It was originally known as Armstrong Grove. History Armstrong got its start in 1892, after the construction of the railroad through that terri ...

in 1942,Service Profile
/ref> and by October 28, 1944, was serving as a private first class in Company G, 2nd Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. On that day, in Dagami, Leyte province, in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, Thorson was wounded while single-handedly attacking an enemy trench, then smothered an enemy-thrown

hand grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

with his own body to protect his fellow soldiers from the blast, but was immediately killed. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor nine months later, on July 19, 1945. Thorson, aged 24 at his death, was buried in Keokuk National Cemetery,

Keokuk, Iowa Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk people, Sauk chief K ...

Medal of Honor citation

Private First Class Thorson's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

He was an
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 ...
man on 28 October 1944, in the attack on Dagami Leyte, Philippine Islands. A heavily fortified enemy position consisting of pillboxes and supporting trenches held up the advance of his company. His platoon was ordered to out-flank and neutralize the strongpoint. Voluntarily moving well out in front of his group, Pvt. Thorson came upon an enemy fire trench defended by several hostile riflemen and, disregarding the intense fire directed at him, attacked single-handed. He was seriously wounded and fell about 6 yards from the trench. Just as the remaining 20 members of the platoon reached him, 1 of the enemy threw a grenade into their midst. Shouting a warning and making a final effort, Pvt. Thorson rolled onto the grenade and smothered the explosion with his body. He was instantly killed, but his magnificent courage and supreme self-sacrifice prevented the injury and possible death of his comrades, and remain with them as a lasting inspiration.

Honored in ship naming

The

ship which served in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

at the end of

was named in his honor.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorson, John F. 1920 births 1944 deaths United States Army personnel killed in World War II United States Army Medal of Honor recipients People from Emmet County, Iowa United States Army soldiers American people of Norwegian descent World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor Military personnel from Iowa

Biography

Medal of Honor citation

Honored in ship naming

See also

References

External links