page_title: Elmer E. Fryar
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Elmer E. Fryar / Biography
caption_attribution_description: English: Pvt. Elmer E. Fryar's name on the eastern hemicycle of the Manila American War Memorial and Cemetery, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines. Names of Medal of Honor recipients are embossed in gold.
context_page_description: Elmer E. Fryar 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.
context_section_description: At age nineteen Fryar joined the Army from his birth city of Denver, Colorado, and served three years. After leaving service in the Army he joined the Marines for four years of service, returning to civilian life in Lakewood, Colorado until the U. S. became involved in World War II. He re-enlisted in the Army, and by December 8, 1944 was serving as a private in Company E, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division. On that day, in Leyte, the Philippines, he single-handedly held off an enemy platoon which was trying to flank his company. Later, while helping a wounded soldier to the rear, he saw an enemy sniper aiming at his platoon leader. Fryar jumped forward and blocked the sniper's fire with his body. Although mortally wounded, he managed to kill the sniper with a hand grenade before succumbing. For these actions, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor five months later, on May 9, 1945.
  Fryar's body was never recovered. He is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery in Manila, the Philippines.
caption: Pvt. Elmer Fryar's name at the Manila American Cemetery, November 2, 2008.
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