Private First Class Manuel Pérez Jr. (March 3, 1923 – March 14, 1945) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

soldier who

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

, the United States' highest military decoration, for his actions in

Battle of Luzon The Battle of Luzon (; ; ) was a land battle of the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II by the Allied forces of the U.S., its colony the Philippines, Mexico, and allies against forces of the Empire of Japan. The battle resulted in a U ...

during the Philippines campaign of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early years

Pérez was a

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

born in Oklahoma City. As a young boy, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he was raised by his father, Manuel Pérez Sr., and his paternal grandmother. There he received his primary and secondary education. He worked for

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before joining the United States Army upon the outbreak of World War II. After his basic training, the Army sent him to

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

school.

World War II

Japanese forces had invaded the Philippine islands and had under its control all of the U.S. Military Installations including

Fort William McKinley Fort Andres Bonifacio (formerly Fort William McKinley) is the site of the national headquarters of the Philippine Army (Headquarters Philippine Army or HPA) located in Taguig, Philippines. The camp is named after Andres Bonifacio, the revolutio ...

which was located just south of

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

the capital. Fort William McKinley was where

USAFFE United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) ( Filipino: ''Hukbong Katihan ng Estados Unidos sa Malayong Silangan''; Spanish: ''Fuerzas del Ejército de los Estados Unidos en el Lejano Oriente'') was a military formation of the United St ...

(United States Army Forces - Far East) had its headquarters for the Philippine Department and the Philippine Division. The bulk of the Philippine Division was stationed here and this was where, under the National Defense Act of 1935, specialized artillery training was conducted. In 1945, Pérez was sent to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and assigned to Company A 511th Parachute Infantry, 11th Airborne Division whose mission was to take Fort William McKinley. On February 13, as the 11th Airborne Division approached the fort, it encountered a strong enemy fortified sector. The sector was composed of cement pillboxes armed with .50-caliber dual-purpose machineguns which defended the entrance to the fort. Upon realizing that the pillboxes (Blockhouses) were preventing the advance of his division, Pérez took it upon himself to charge the fortifications and blast them away with grenades. Due to his actions, which resulted in 18 enemy deaths, his unit was able to advance. A month later, while on the road to Santo Tomas in Southern Luzon, Private Perez was killed by a sniper.

Medal of Honor citation

Manuel Pérez Jr. was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on December 27, 1945.

Honors

Pérez was buried with full military honors at Fairlawn Cemetery which is located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The state government of Illinois honored the memory of Perez by naming a plaza located in Chicago's Little Village Square and a school after him. The

Department of the Army The United States Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. The DA is the federal government agency within which the United States Army (U.S.) is organized. It is led ...

the reserve center of the 221st Unit Army Hospital in Oklahoma City, the Manuel Perez Jr Reserve Center.

Date of death

His grave at Fairlawn Cemetery shows a date of death as March 14, 1945, a date found in the casualty list for the 511th PIR 511th Parachute Infantry Casualties on the Philippine Islands of Leyte & Luzon during WWII and division historian Lt. Gen. E.M. Flanagan.

Awards and recognitions

Among Pérez's decorations and medals were the following:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Manuel Jr. 1923 births 1945 deaths United States Army Medal of Honor recipients United States Army soldiers American people of Mexican descent United States Army personnel killed in World War II World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor Military personnel from Oklahoma People from Oklahoma City