RIP Robert Maxwell (Oldest Medal of Honor recipient)

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

He heard the hand grenade well before he saw it. And as the seconds ticked away and Robert D. Maxwell searched blindly through the darkness, he decided that the only thing worse than running away was picking up the explosive device and attempting to throw it back at the enemy — an act that risked killing the three soldiers crouched alongside him.

 

When he finally found the grenade, lying on the cement courtyard outside his battalion’s embattled observation post in eastern France, he did the only thing that made sense. Clutching a blanket to his chest, he dropped on top of the device, absorbing the full force of its explosion and saving the lives of his comrades.

 

“It’s not the case that I was brave or a hero or anything like that,” Mr. Maxwell, an Army technician fifth grade during World War II, said years later. “Because I just did what the only alternative was at the time. There was nothing else to do.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/robert-maxwell-medal-of-honor-recipient-who-fell-on-grenade-to-save-lives-dies-at-98/2019/05/14/7f40c290-75c8-11e9-b7ae-390de4259661_story.html

 

https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/7157302-151/bends-bob-maxwell-nations-oldest-medal-of-honor

 

 

 

[Punching Bag]

The invasion went smoothly, and the 3rd Infantry Division moved north through France. On the night of Sept. 7, 1944, Maxwell’s unit was in Besancon, France. Their position was attacked in the dark by German soldiers, who lobbed a “potato-masher” stick grenade into their midst.

 

With seconds to act, Maxwell grabbed a blanket and fell on the grenade, which exploded under his body.

Though severely wounded, the blanket took enough of the blast to save his life. His action was credited with saving the lives of four American soldiers, including a battalion commander.

 

For his action, Maxwell received the Medal of Honor. Maxwell eventually received two Silver Stars, two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, the French Croix de Guerre and the French Legion d’honneur.

 

That is a lot of metal which seems deserved.