Medal of Honor Monday: Army Cpl. Robert Maxwell

By Katie Lange,U.S. Department of Defense

For today’s Medal of Honor Monday, we’re honoring a brave recipient who passed away recently — 75 years after he jumped on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers in World War II.

Army Technician 5th Grade Robert Maxwell was born on Oct. 26, 1920, in Boise, Idaho, but he grew up with his grandparents in Kansas. He eventually moved to Colorado, where he became a timber ranch worker. From there, he was drafted into the Army in June 1942.

Maxwell — whose rank was equivalent to corporal, but with technical skills — served as an infantryman in North Africa and Italy before being sent to France with the 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, as a noncombatant to set up communications lines for his battalion.

On Sept. 7, 1944, Maxwell and three other soldiers, including his battalion commander, were part of an Allied group liberating Besancon, France. Maxwell was tying wires for communications onto a house that had become their battalion observation post when they were attacked. Armed with only .45-caliber automatic pistols, the four Americans defended the post against the enemy, who had artillery, machine guns and grenades.

“The Germans had apparently infiltrated past the rifle companies and were in the process of surrounding the command post,” Maxwell said in a Library of Congress interview. “It was in danger of being captured.”

According to his Medal of Honor citation, “Maxwell aggressively fought off advancing enemy elements and, by his calmness, tenacity and fortitude, inspired his fellows to continue the unequal struggle.”

Eventually, an enemy hand grenade made it through the chicken wire fence surrounding the post and hit the ground near the four men.