Captain Sprayberry's Daring Night Rescue

Captain James Sprayberry, an Armor officer in the U.S. Army, served as the executive officer of Company D. During a fierce engagement, his company commander and numerous men were wounded and separated from the main force. An attempt to rescue them in daylight was thwarted by intense enemy fire from well-entrenched positions. That night, Captain Sprayberry organized and led a volunteer patrol to break through enemy defenses and reach the stranded group.

As they advanced, the patrol came under enemy machinegun fire. Captain Sprayberry quickly directed his men to cover, then crawled forward alone, disregarding his own safety to get within range of the machinegun position. He silenced it with a grenade. Spotting additional enemy positions nearby, he attacked each with his remaining grenades before crawling back to resupply. When two grenades were hurled at his men from a nearby bunker, Captain Sprayberry again moved forward, charging the enemy position and eliminating its occupants with a grenade.

With two men covering his advance, he crawled forward and took out three more bunkers with grenades. Soon after, he was ambushed by an enemy soldier who charged from concealment; Captain Sprayberry killed him with his pistol and pressed on to neutralize another enemy emplacement. He then established radio contact with the isolated men, guiding them toward his position. Once they regrouped, he organized litter teams to begin evacuating the wounded.

As the evacuation neared completion, Captain Sprayberry spotted yet another enemy machinegun and silenced it with a grenade before rejoining his team. He then set up security and led his men back to friendly lines, successfully bringing all wounded to safety. This mission, which lasted approximately 7.5 hours, saved numerous lives. In the course of the operation, Captain Sprayberry personally killed 12 enemy soldiers, destroyed two machinegun positions, and cleared numerous bunkers. For his extraordinary bravery, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.