Serving as a soldier in the U.S. Army, Private First Class Herman C. Wallace was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions on February 27, 1945 near Prumzurley, Germany during World War II. At the time he was serving with Company B, 301st Combat Engineer Battalion, 76th Infantry Division. Wallace was about 21 years old.
Wallace was killed in the action for which his medal was awarded. One other service member also received the Medal of Honor for actions on the same day.
Wallace was born in 1924 in Marlow, Stephens County, Oklahoma. His Medal of Honor is credited to Lubbock, Lubbock County, Texas. He is buried at City of Lubbock Cemetery in Lubbock, Texas.
Wallace is one of 474 Medal of Honor recipients from World War II and one of 78 credited to Texas.
Official Medal of Honor citation
He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity. While helping clear enemy mines from a road, he stepped on a well-concealed S-type antipersonnel mine. Hearing the characteristic noise indicating that the mine had been activated and, if he stepped aside, would be thrown upward to explode above the ground and spray the area with fragments, surely killing two comrades directly behind him and endangering other members of his squad, he deliberately placed his other foot on the mine even though his best chance for survival was to fall prone. Pvt. Wallace was killed when the charge detonated, but his supreme heroism at the cost of his life confined the blast to the ground and his own body and saved his fellow soldiers from death or injury.
Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.
Wounds and death in action
- Killed in action during the act for which the medal was awarded (February 27, 1945).
- Age at death: about 21
- Resting place: City of Lubbock Cemetery
Other decorations and honors
Besides the Medal of Honor, Herman C. Wallace received:
Source: Wikidata. Gold chips link to our guide to that decoration.
Battles and campaigns
Also served in: World War II.
Places
Timeline
- 1924Born in Marlow, Stephens County, Oklahoma
- February 27, 1945Act of valor — near Prumzurley, GermanyAge about 21. Company B, 301st Combat Engineer Battalion, 76th Infantry Division Killed in action.
- Resting placeCity of Lubbock CemeteryLubbock, Texas
Biography
Herman Claudious Wallace (June 12, 1924– February 27, 1945) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II. Wallace was born on June 12, 1924, in Marlow, Oklahoma. He graduated from Lubbock High School in Lubbock, Texas, in 1942 and enrolled as an engineering major at Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University) later that year. He joined the Army from Lubbock in June 1943, and by February 27, 1945, was serving as a private first class in Company B, 301st Engineer Combat Battalion, 76th Infantry Division.
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