Van T . Barfoot Van Thomas Barfoot ( born Van Thurman Barfoot ; June 15 , 1919 – March 2 , 2012 ) was a United States Army officer and a recipient of the United States military ' s highest decoration — the Medal of Honor — for his actions in World War II . Biography . Barfoot was born on June 15 , 1919 , in Edinburg , Mississippi . His grandmother was Choctaw , but Barfoot himself was not an official member of the Choctaw Nation ; although he was eligible , his parents had never enrolled him . After enlisting in the Army from Carthage , Mississippi , in 1940 and completing his training , Barfoot served with the 1st Infantry Division in Louisiana and Puerto Rico . In December 1941 , he was promoted to sergeant and reassigned to the Headquarters Amphibious Force Atlantic Fleet in Quantico , Virginia , where he served until the unit was deactivated in 1943 . He next joined the 157th Infantry Regiment , 45th Infantry Division , and was shipped to Europe . During the Italian Campaign Barfoot participated in a series of amphibious landings : the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 , the invasion of mainland Italy at Salerno in September , and finally the landings at Anzio in late January 1944 . His unit pushed inland from Anzio , and by May 1944 had reached the town of Carano . They set up defensive positions and Barfoot conducted patrols to scout the German lines . When his company was ordered to attack on the morning of May 23 , Barfoot , now a technical sergeant , asked for permission to lead a squad . Because of the patrols he had made , he knew the terrain and the minefield which lay in front of the German position . He advanced alone through the minefield , following ditches and depressions , until he came within a few yards of a machine gun on the German flank . After taking out the gun with a hand grenade , he entered the German trench and advanced on a second machine gun , killing two soldiers and capturing three others . When he reached a third gun , the entire crew surrendered to him . Others also surrendered and Barfoot captured a total of seventeen German soldiers and killed eight . When the Germans launched an armored counterattack later in the day , Barfoot disabled one tank with a bazooka , then advanced into enemy - held territory and destroyed an abandoned German artillery piece . He returned to his own lines and helped two wounded soldiers from his squad to the rear . Barfoot was subsequently commissioned as a second lieutenant . His division moved into France and by September was serving in the Rhone valley . Barfoot learned he would be awarded the Medal of Honor and chose to have the presentation ceremony in the field , so that his soldiers could attend . He was formally presented with the medal on September 28 , 1944 , in Épinal , France , by Lieutenant General Alexander Patch . Barfoot later served in the Korean War and the Vietnam War , and earned a Purple Heart . He reached the rank of colonel before retiring from the Army . In retirement he lived in Amelia County , Virginia and later , Henrico County , Virginia , near his daughter . On October 9 , 2009 , the portion of Mississippi Highway 16 which runs from Carthage through his hometown of Edinburg to the border between Leake and Neshoba counties was named the " Van T . Barfoot Medal of Honor Highway " . Medal of Honor citation . Second Lieutenant Barfoot ' s official Medal of Honor citation reads : Flag controversy . In December 2009 , the homeowners ' association ( HOA ) of the Sussex Square , where Barfoot lived in Henrico County , Virginia , ordered him to remove the flagpole from which he flew the US flag . This news story first became public when Barfoot ' s son - in - law reported the story on local talk radio show , Elliot in the Morning . Fox News and several other national news networks picked up the story . The HOA retained Coates & Davenport to help enforce their order . The association ' s bylaws do not forbid flagpoles , but the HOA ruled Barfoot , then aged 90 , would not be allowed to use it " for aesthetic reasons . " Barfoot contested the order , and received support from politicians , including Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb , and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs . The association dropped its request on December 8 , 2009 , ending the controversy . Death . Barfoot suffered a fall resulting in head trauma , and died on March 2 , 2012 at the age of 92 .