William J Crawford
William, known as Bill, was born on the 19th of May 1918, in Pueblo, Colorado, where he grew up with his parents and older sister, Frieda. At the age of 24, he enlisted in the US Army in Colorado and within a year, Bill was deployed to Italy in support of World War 2 and it was his actions with 3rd Battalion, 142nd Infantry Division that would later earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy near Altavilla, Italy, 13 September 1943. When Company I attacked an enemy-held position on Hill 424, the 3d Platoon, in which Pvt. Crawford was a squad scout, attacked as base platoon for the company. After reaching the crest of a hill, the platoon was pinned down by intense enemy machine-gun and small-arms fire. Locating one of these guns, which was dug in on a terrace on his immediate front, Pvt. Crawford, without orders and on his own initiative moved over the hill under enemy fire to a point within a few yards of the gun emplacement and singlehandedly destroyed the machine gun and killed three of the crew with a hand grenade, thus enabling his platoon to continue its advance. When the platoon, after reaching the crest, was once more delayed by enemy fire, Pvt. Crawford again, in the face of intense fire, advanced directly to the front midway between two hostile machine-gun nests located on a higher terrace and emplaced in a small ravine. Moving first to the left, with a grenade he destroyed one gun emplacement and killed the crew; he then worked his way, under continuous fire, to the other and with one grenade and the use of his rifle, killed one enemy and forced the remainder to flee. Seizing the enemy machine gun, he fired on the withdrawing Germans and facilitated his company's advance.
After this battle, Bill was captured by the Germans, and he was unaccounted for by the US. Presumed to be killed in action, Major General Terry Allen presented Bill’s posthumous Medal of Honor to his father in a ceremony at Camp Carson, Colorado in 1944. Months later, Bill was rescued, along with other soldiers, and returned to the States, remaining in the Army until 1945. Bill married Virginia Eileen in January of 1946, and the couple had one son and one daughter. He re-enlisted in the Army in 1947 and retired as a Master Sergeant in 1967 after almost 24 years of service.
Bill then got a job at the US Air Force Academy as a janitor and reportedly did his job quietly and didn’t tell anyone of his Medal. He flew under the radar for about nine years until a cadet at the academy read a book that mentioned a Medal of Honor recipient with the same name as a certain janitor. Slowly, Bill was convinced to speak to more cadets about his experiences and he mentioned one time that he never received the Medal in a ceremony. This all changed on the 30th of May 1984, during that year’s class graduation ceremony. President Reagan spoke to the graduating cadets and Bill was called up on stage to formally receive the Medal of Honor from the President, revealing his story and identity to the rest of the Academy. William John Crawford died on the 15th of March 2000, at the age of 81 and he is buried in the US Air Force Academy Cemetery: Lot 3, Row D, Site 68. He is the only non-Air Force veteran to be buried in this cemetery.
