A few thousand may seem like a lot, but considering the number of servicemen there are and have been, this is a miniscule percentage.
It wouldn’t be fair to compare any of these recipients, as they all have performed “personal acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty.”
Still, there are always some that stand out from the rest. One of these men was Thomas Baker, a member of the US Army during WWII.
When his entire company was pinned down, Baker voluntarily took a bazooka and dashed alone to within 100 yards of the enemy and knocked out the strongpoint. His deeds didn’t stop there, though.
Some days later, when in a vulnerable position crossing a field, Baker again voluntarily took up a position in the rear to protect the company against surprise attack, and came upon 2 heavily fortified enemy pockets manned by 2 officers and 10 enlisted men which had been bypassed.
He killed them all by himself.
Five hundred yards further, he discovered 6 men of the enemy who had concealed themselves behind our lines and destroyed all of them.
Impressive, but Baker still wasn’t done stating his case for the medal. From his Medal of Honor summary on the Army’s website:
“On 7 July 1944, the perimeter of which Sgt. Baker was a part was attacked from 3 sides by from 3,000 to 5,000 Japanese. During the early stages of this attack, Sgt. Baker was seriously wounded but he insisted on remaining in the line and fired at the enemy at ranges sometimes as close as 5 yards until his ammunition ran out.”
He refused to let his comrades carry him to safety because he didn’t want to risk their lives. He was left propped up against a tree with a pistol and 8 rounds. His body was later found in the same position, gun empty, with 8 dead Japanese soldiers around him.
