Private First Class Jose F. Valdez (January 3, 1925 – February 17, 1945) 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 who

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

received 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 valo ...

— the United States' highest military decoration — for his actions near Rosenkranz, France, in the Battle of the Colmar Pocket during

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Early years

Valdez was a

Spanish-American Spanish Americans ( es, españoles estadounidenses, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in ...

born and raised in

Gobernador, New Mexico Gobernador is a small, unincorporated community located in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. Although not on a Native American reservation, Gobernador is about 50 miles east of the Navajo Nation and 15 miles west of the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reserva ...

(today a ghost town). He joined the United States Army at a recruiting station in Santa Fe, New Mexico in June 1944 (but was listed as a Utah Medal of Honor recipient). After completing his basic training, he was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division.

World War II

The 3rd Infantry Division, which was under the command of Major General

John W. O'Daniel Lieutenant General John Wilson O'Daniel (February 15, 1894 – March 27, 1975), nicknamed " Iron Mike", was a senior United States Army officer who served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He is perhaps best known for serving wit ...

, fought from North Africa through Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany during World War II. On January 23, 1945, the 3rd Infantry Division was attacking German forces in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

as part of the Allied offensive to collapse the Colmar Pocket. On January 25, 1945, Valdez was on patrol with 5 of his fellow soldiers at a small railway station near Rosenkranz, France, () when unexpectedly they confronted an enemy

counterattack A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek ...

. An enemy tank was headed towards the patrol and Valdez, upon his own initiative, opened fire against the tank with his

automatic rifle An automatic rifle is a type of autoloading rifle that is capable of fully automatic fire. Automatic rifles are generally select-fire weapons capable of firing in semi-automatic and automatic firing modes (some automatic rifles are capable of ...

, action which made the tank withdraw. After Valdez killed 3 enemy soldiers in a firefight, the Germans ordered a full attack and sent in two companies of infantrymen. Valdez offered to cover the members of his patrol when the platoon leader ordered a withdrawal. He fired upon the approaching enemy and his patrol members were able to reach American lines. Valdez was wounded and was able to drag himself back to American lines, however, he died three weeks later from his wounds.

Medal of Honor citation

Awards and recognitions

Awards

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had perfo ...

European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign ribbon

European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal : World War II Victory Medal ribbon

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal is a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. The Wo ...

French Croix de Guerre : Fourragère CG

French Croix de guerre

Fourragère The ''fourragère'' () is a military award, distinguishing military units as a whole, in the form of a braided cord. The award was first adopted by France, followed by other nations such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and Luxembourg. Fou ...

Honors

*Valdez was buried with full military honors in the

Santa Fe National Cemetery Santa Fe National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the city of Santa Fe, in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. It encompasses , and as of 2021, had 68,000 interments. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it ...

located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. *, a technical research ship in operation during the 1960s. *Valdez Elementary School, an elementary School dedicated in north

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. *PFC Jose F. Valdez Memorial Highway, a 106-mile stretch of

U.S. Route 64 U.S. Route 64 (US 64) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,326 miles (3,743 km) from Nags Head in eastern North Carolina to just southwest of the Four Corners in northeast Arizona. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 1 ...

, from Tierra Amarilla to Bloomfield, in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

. *Jose F. Valdez U.S. Army Reserve Center, located in

Pleasant Grove, Utah Pleasant Grove, originally named Battle Creek, is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States known as "Utah's City of Trees". It is part of the Provo– Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 37,726 at the 2020 Census. Hist ...

, headquarters of the 405th Civil Affairs Battalion. *A memorial to Valdez was dedicated in Gobernador, New Mexico, in 2002. *A memorial at All Veterans Memorial Park in Berg Park, Farmington, New Mexico, was dedicated in 2009 honoring three northwest New Mexico residents who received the Medal of Honor; Valdez, USMC LCpl. Kenneth Lee Worley, and Army SSG

Franklin D. Miller Franklin Douglas "Doug" Miller (January 27, 1945–June 30, 2000) was an American and United States Army Special Forces (United States), Special Forces staff sergeant during the Vietnam War who was awarded the United States military's highest ...

.Memorial 'Is a Legacy That Will Go on'
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valdez, Jose F. 1925 births 1945 deaths United States Army personnel killed in World War II United States Army Medal of Honor recipients United States Army soldiers American people of Mexican descent World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor Burials at Santa Fe National Cemetery