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World War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient
Sergeant Charles A. MacGillvary, US Army
Charles A. MacGillvary moved from Prince Edward Island, at the age of 16, to live with his older brother in Boston. Following the attack in Pearl Harbour in 1941, MacGillvary joined the US Army. He was convinced by a local enlisting agent that it would be better if he got US citizenship. So off he went to become an American. In 1945, after landing on Omaha Beach at Normandy (the landing featured in Saving Private Ryan), MacGillvary made his way into France with the US Army. On New Years Day 1945, Sergeant MacGillivarys company, pinned down in the European permafrost by a Panzer division, running out of ammunition and talking of surrender, lost its commander. MacGillvary was next in line to take his place. MacGillvary undertook a lone-man mission to try and free up his platoon's advance. He made his way forward and around the machine gun nests that were pinning down his men. Single-handed, he took out four German machine-gun emplacements. At the final nest, a solitary German soldier fired a machine gun burst at MacGillvary which ripped off his left arm. Still, MacGillvary took the position and allowed the advance to continue. Charles MacGillvary died Saturday, June 24, 2000 at the age of 83. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a funeral reserved for only military heroes.
Friday, June 30, 2000
Courtesy of the Boston Herald
Charles MacGillivary, who lost an arm on a French battlefield during the Battle of the Bulge, was praised yesterday during his funeral Mass in Braintree as being "just what a Medal of Honor recipient should be.''
"He was a great patriot,'' said William Wilson, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 299 in Cambridge.
"A lot of people drove here from everywhere, just because of the decency of
this man,'' he said.
MacGillivary, 83, of Braintree died Saturday in the VA Hospital in Jamaica Plain, after a lengthy battle with cancer.
On January 1, 1945, MacGillivary single-handedly killed 36 SS troops and saved his unit from capture or death. He lost his left arm in the process.
His fellow veterans turned out yesterday to help fill St. Francis of Assisi Church for his funeral. The old soldier will be buried with full military honors on July 13 in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
The Rev. Philip Salois, who received a Silver Star during the Vietnam War, told the throng that MacGillivary's service continued through his entire life.
"Charlie did not let his injury keep him from living a full life and people looked up to him,'' Salois said. ``He became the hope of the disabled veterans and was a beacon of light for many veterans.''
"Charlie gave of himself and he gave selflessly to the homeless veterans and never stopped giving.''
MacGillivary's wife, Esther, died last year and the couple had three daughters.
He worked as a special agent for the city of Boston's Treasury Department and later for the Customs Department, retiring in 1975.
At the end of the service, his granddaughter, Charlene Carmichael, told the mourners, "Charlie was the most generous man I have ever known and he has impacted so many lives with his support and kindness.''
She said her grandfather was a man "determined, diligent'' and especially patient.
"If you ever have seen a man with one arm put swimmies (trunks) on a 7-year-old who wants nothing more than to be in the pool, then you have seen a man with endless patience,'' she said.
CITATION: Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company I, 71st Infantry, 44th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Woelfling, France, 1 January 1945. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: He led a squad when his unit moved forward in darkness to meet the threat of a breakthrough by elements of the 17th German Panzer Grenadier Division. Assigned to protect the left flank, he discovered hostile troops digging in. As he reported this information, several German machineguns opened fire, stopping the American advance. Knowing the position of the enemy, Sgt. MacGillivary volunteered to knock out 1 of the guns while another company closed in from the right to assault the remaining strong points. He circled from the left through woods and snow, carefully worked his way to the emplacement and shot the 2 camouflaged gunners at a range of 3 feet as other enemy forces withdrew. Early in the afternoon of the same day, Sgt. MacGillivary was dispatched on reconnaissance and found that Company I was being opposed by about 6 machineguns reinforcing a company of fanatically fighting Germans. His unit began an attack but was pinned down by furious automatic and small arms fire. With a clear idea of where the enemy guns were placed, he voluntarily embarked on a lone combat patrol. Skillfully taking advantage of all available cover, he stalked the enemy, reached a hostile machinegun and blasted its crew with a grenade. He picked up a submachine gun from the battlefield and pressed on to within 10 yards of another machinegun, where the enemy crew discovered him and feverishly tried to swing their weapon into line to cut him down. He charged ahead, jumped into the midst of the Germans and killed them with several bursts. Without hesitation, he moved on to still another machinegun, creeping, crawling, and rushing from tree to tree, until close enough to toss a grenade into the emplacement and close with its defenders. He dispatched this crew also, but was himself seriously wounded. Through his indomitable fighting spirit, great initiative, and utter disregard for personal safety in the face of powerful enemy resistance, Sgt. MacGillivary destroyed four hostile machineguns and immeasurably helped his company to continue on its mission with minimum casualties.
Courtesy of Find A Grave
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