Russell Dunham
The fearless sergeant who won the Medal of Honor
The fearless sergeant who won the Medal of Honor
Russell Dunham
1920–2009
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
For 64 years, Russell Dunham carried in his body shrapnel that was a poignant reminder of the remarkable wartime exploits that won him the Medal of Honor. He died last week of congestive heart failure.
Born in East Carondelet, Ill., Dunham joined the Army in 1940, said The Washington Post. After seeing action in North Africa and Italy, Dunham, by then a sergeant, found himself in the small, snowy town of Kaysersberg, France, on Jan. 8, 1945, facing three German machine gun emplacements. “He took out the first bunker with a grenade. Advancing toward the second, he glanced around to call up his squad and a bullet hit him in the back, leaving a 10-inch gash.” Despite excruciating pain, Dunham crawled to the second emplacement, killing two Germans and capturing a third. By now his white-camouflage robe was “stained a conspicuous red.” Yet Dunham “ran 50 yards to the third emplacement” and destroyed it with another grenade.
Two weeks later Dunham was back fighting in the French town of Holtzwihr, said The New York Times. Surrounded by tanks, most of his men surrendered. Dunham “hid in a sauerkraut barrel outside a barn,” where two German soldiers discovered him. “While searching him they found a pack of cigarettes in his pocket and began to fight over it. They never noticed a pistol in his shoulder holster.” En route to a POW camp, one of his captors stopped at a bar. “The second soldier’s attention wandered and Dunham shot him in the head.” In subzero temperatures, he walked for two days until he reached the American lines, nearly losing his feet to frostbite. He received the Medal of Honor that April.
Dunham worked for 32 years with the Veterans Administration in St. Louis. He is survived by a daughter and two stepchildren.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Musk's reliance on China draws rising scrutiny'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Biba: the story of a 'legendary emporium'
The Week Recommends Brand's 60th anniversary is being marked with retrospective celebrating the 'iconic shop's cultural importance'
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
How the Russia-Ukraine conflict has spread to Africa
The Explainer Ukraine is attempting to strengthen its alliances on the continent to counter Russia's growing presence
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Benjamin Zephaniah: trailblazing writer who 'took poetry everywhere'
Why Everyone's Talking About Remembering the 'radical' wordsmith's 'wit and sense of mischief'
By The Week UK Published
-
Shane MacGowan: the unruly former punk with a literary soul
Why Everyone's Talking About The Pogues frontman died aged 65
By The Week UK Published
-
'Euphoria' star Angus Cloud dies at 25
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Legendary jazz and pop singer Tony Bennett dies at 96
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published
-
Martin Amis: literary wunderkind who ‘blazed like a rocket’
feature Famed author, essayist and screenwriter died this week aged 73
By The Week Staff Published
-
Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian folk legend, is dead at 84
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Barry Humphries obituary: cerebral satirist who created Dame Edna Everage
feature Actor and comedian was best known as the monstrous Melbourne housewife and Sir Les Patterson
By The Week Staff Published
-
Mary Quant obituary: pioneering designer who created the 1960s look
feature One of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century remembered as the mother of the miniskirt
By The Week Staff Published