Junior N. Van Noy (9 August 1924 – 17 October 1943) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

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 military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor ...

—for his actions in the

Battle of Finschhafen The Battle of Finschhafen was part of the Huon Peninsula campaign in New Guinea during World War II and was fought between Australian and Japanese forces. The fighting took place between 22 September and 24 October 1943 following the landing a ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. His birthname was Nathan Kilby Van Noy Jr.

Biography

Van Noy joined the Army from

Preston, Idaho Preston is a city in Franklin County, Idaho, United States. The population was 5,204 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Franklin County. It is part of the Logan, Utah-Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The Bear ...

in February 1943,WWII Army Enlistment Records
/ref> and by October 17, 1943, was serving as a private in the Headquarters Company of Shore Battalion,

532nd Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment The 532nd Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment was a United States Army engineer unit that served in World War II and the Korean War. It was designated the 532nd Engineer Amphibian Regiment in July 1943 and was assigned to the 2nd Engineer Special Br ...

. On that day, near

Finschafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

, he manned a machine gun during an enemy attack, refusing to withdraw even after being seriously wounded. He destroyed half of the small enemy force before being killed. For his actions during the battle, he was posthumously issued the Medal of Honor four months later, on February 26, 1944. Van Noy, aged 19 at his death, was buried at Grace Cemetery in his birth city of

Grace, Idaho Grace is a city in Caribou County, Idaho, Caribou County, Idaho, United States. The population was 915 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History The area of Grace was once inhabited by the Shoshone Indians. The Oregon Trail passed w ...

. He was a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...

Medal of Honor citation

Private Van Noy's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy near Finschafen, New Guinea, on October 17, 1943. When wounded late in September, Pvt. Van Noy declined evacuation and continued on duty. On October 17, 1943 he was gunner in charge of a machinegun post only 5 yards from the water's edge when the alarm was given that 3 enemy barges loaded with troops were approaching the beach in the early morning darkness. One landing barge was sunk by Allied fire, but the other 2 beached 10 yards from Pvt. Van Noy's emplacement. Despite his exposed position, he poured a withering hail of fire into the debarking enemy troops. His loader was wounded by a grenade and evacuated. Pvt. Van Noy, also grievously wounded, remained at his post, ignoring calls of nearby soldiers urging him to withdraw, and continued to fire with deadly accuracy. He expended every round and was found, covered with wounds dead beside his gun. In this action Pvt. Van Noy killed at least half of the 39 enemy taking part in the landing. His heroic tenacity at the price of his life not only saved the lives of many of his comrades, but enabled them to annihilate the attacking detachment.

The U.S. Army Engineer Port Repair ship ''Junior N. Van Noy'' was named for him in 1943 and was the first of the ships operating, reporting 10 August 1944 to assist in repairing the port of

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Noy, Junior 1924 births 1943 deaths United States Army personnel killed in World War II United States Army Medal of Honor recipients People from Grace, Idaho United States Army soldiers World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor

Biography

Medal of Honor citation

See also

References