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SMITHSONIAN EXHIBITS MCGRAW MEDAL OF HONORFrank Blazich Jr. is a curator in the Smithsonian's Division of Political and Military History. On November 15, 2019 he published an article on the museum's O Say Can You See? blog about a new Medal of Honor display. Here's an excerpt. -Editor
McGraw remained at his gun, firing on advancing German infantry. Their assault faltering, the Germans took cover, brought up a machine gun, and aimed at McGraw. Seeking a better vantage point, McGraw stood up in his foxhole, exposing himself to enemy fire, positioned his machine gun, and proceeded to silence the enemy gun. The Germans next brought up antitank rockets called Panzerfausts. A blast hit near McGraw, knocking his machine gun aside. Retrieving the weapon, McGraw acquired his targets and returned fire. A second machine gun targeted him, and McGraw stood up again, silencing the enemy weapon. Ammunition began to run low. “The fire was so intense that the ammunition bearers were unable to cover the short distance to the ammunition dump where supplies were stored in a deep trench,” First Sergeant Joseph Baruno remembered. “I saw Private McGraw make three trips to pile up supplies next to his gun. He was hit on the last trip.”
There's more to the story - see the complete article online. And if you're in town this month, see the medal at the Smithsonian's Price of Freedom exhibition. -Editor
To read the complete article, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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