There is, of course, a story behind every Medal of Honor awarded, and there is also the story of the medal itself. And those two stories intertwine in the story of the nation’s only chief executive to have been awarded the nation’s highest and most prestigious military decoration.
By September of 1944, the Western Allies had broken out of the Normandy beachehead, and suddenly and quickly moved across northern France . By September 7th, the 90th division was stretched across the northern sector on Patton’s Third Army’s left, advancing slowly northeast. As they did so the German defenders made a risky attack in an effort to spoil the allied advance, cutting through Allied lines in a surprise action at the small town of Mairy-Mannville.