Harold A. Garman-Albion, IL
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 38° 25.524 W 088° 07.782
16S E 401389 N 4253619
World War II Medal of Honor Recipient for action near Montereau, France on August 25, 1944. He is buried in Samaria Baptist Church Cemetery, Albion, IL
Waymark Code: WMWZA6
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 11/03/2017
Views: 0
He was born on February 28, 1918 in Fairfield IL and died on August 13, 1992 in Albion, IL. He attained the rank of Tech Sgt 5. His Medal of Honor information and citation is: GARMAN, HAROLD A.
• Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company B, 5th Medical Battalion, 5th Infantry Division
• Place and date: Near Montereau, France, 25 August 1944
• Entered service at: Albion, Ill.
• G.O. No.: 20, 29 March 1945
Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On 25 August 1944, in the vicinity of Montereau, France, the enemy was sharply contesting any enlargement of the bridgehead which our forces had established on the northern bank of the Seine River in this sector. Casualties were being evacuated to the southern shore in assault boats paddled by litter bearers from a medical battalion. Pvt. Garman, also a litter bearer in this battalion, was working on the friendly shore carrying the wounded from the boats to waiting ambulances. As 1 boatload of wounded reached midstream, a German machinegun suddenly opened fire upon it from a commanding position on the northern bank 100 yards away. All of the men in the boat immediately took to the water except 1 man who was so badly wounded he could not rise from his litter. Two other patients who were unable to swim because of their wounds clung to the sides of the boat. Seeing the extreme danger of these patients, Pvt. Garman without a moment's hesitation plunged into the Seine. Swimming directly into a hail of machinegun bullets, he rapidly reached the assault boat and then while still under accurately aimed fire towed the boat with great effort to the southern shore. This soldier's moving heroism not only saved the lives of the three patients but so inspired his comrades that additional assault boats were immediately procured and the evacuation of the wounded resumed. Pvt. Garman's great courage and his heroic devotion to the highest tenets of the Medical Corps may be written with great pride in the annals of the corps.
Armed Service: Army
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