John R. Crews (March 8, 1923 – September 25, 1999) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions at the Battle of Buchhof and Stein am Kocher in World War II.

Biography

Crews joined the Army from Bowlegs, Oklahoma in 1942,NY Times orbituary
/ref> and by April 8, 1945, was serving as a

Staff Sergeant Staff sergeant is a 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 administrative, supervi ...

in Company F, 253rd Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division. On that day, near Stein-am-Kocher, Germany, Crews single-handedly destroyed two German emplacements. Crews died at age 76 and was buried in Resthaven Gardens Cemetery, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 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 spotlig ...

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 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