James Phillip Connor James Phillip Connor ( January 12 , 1919 – July 27 , 1994 ) was a sergeant in the United States Army who received the Medal of Honor after leading a platoon of 36 men attached to the 7th Infantry Regiment , 3rd Infantry Division against German positions , defended by snipers and machine gun nests , at Cape Cavalaire , France on August 15 , 1944 . Seriously wounded in the course of the assault , the third suffered while on active duty , he continued to fight alongside his men until his injuries forced him to stand down ( although he continued to direct the assault ) . Although losing one - third of his platoon , Connor ' s men were successfully able to outflank the enemy killing seven German soldiers and capturing forty more as well as taking a considerable amount of supplies including three machine guns . Connor joined the Army from his birth city of Wilmington , Delaware in January 1941 . He was discharged in 1945 . Medal of Honor citation . Rank and organization : Sergeant , U . S . Army , 7th Infantry , 3rd Infantry Division . Place and date : Cape Cavalaire , southern France , 15 August 1944 . Entered service at : Wilmington , Del . Born : Wilmington , Del . G . O . No . : 18 , 15 March 1945 . Citation : For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty . On 15 August 1944 , Sgt . Connor , through sheer grit and determination , led his platoon in clearing an enemy vastly superior in numbers and firepower from strongly entrenched positions on Cape Cavalaire , removing a grave enemy threat to his division during the amphibious landing in southern France , and thereby insured safe and uninterrupted landings for the huge volume of men and materiel which followed . His battle patrol landed on " Red Beach " with the mission of destroying the strongly fortified enemy positions on Cape Cavalaire with utmost speed . From the peninsula the enemy had commanding observation and seriously menaced the vast landing operations taking place . Though knocked down and seriously wounded in the neck by a hanging mine which killed his platoon lieutenant , Sgt . Connor refused medical aid and with his driving spirit practically carried the platoon across several thousand yards of mine - saturated beach through intense fire from mortars , 20 - mm . flak guns , machineguns , and snipers . En route to the Cape he personally shot and killed 2 snipers . The platoon sergeant was killed and Sgt . Connor became platoon leader . Receiving a second wound , which lacerated his shoulder and back , he again refused evacuation , expressing determination to carry on until physically unable to continue . He reassured and prodded the hesitating men of his decimated platoon forward through almost impregnable mortar concentrations . Again emphasizing the prevalent urgency of their mission , he impelled his men toward a group of buildings honeycombed with enemy snipers and machineguns . Here he received his third grave wound , this time in the leg , felling him in his tracks . Still resolved to carry on , he relinquished command only after his attempts proved that it was physically impossible to stand . Nevertheless , from his prone position , he gave the orders and directed his men in assaulting the enemy . Infused with Sgt . Connor ' s dogged determination , the platoon , though reduced to less than one - third of its original 36 men , outflanked and rushed the enemy with such furiousness that they killed 7 , captured 40 , seized 3 machineguns and considerable other materiel , and took all their assigned objectives , successfully completing their mission . By his repeated examples of tenaciousness and indomitable spirit Sgt Connor transmitted his heroism to his men until they became a fighting team which could not be stopped . `