John W. Minick

Who was John W. Minick?

John W. Minick, born in Wall, Pennsylvania, near East McKeesport in Allegheny County, to immigrant Serbian parents. He was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest in World War II.

Minick joined the Army from Carlisle, Pennsylvania in August 1943, and by November 21, 1944 was serving as a Staff Sergeant in Company I, 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division. On that day, inside German defenses of Hürtgen and Vossenack, Germany, Minick voluntarily led a small group of men through a minefield, single-handedly silenced two enemy machine gun emplacements, and engaged a company-sized force of German soldiers before he was killed while crossing a second minefield. For these actions, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Minick, aged 36 at his death, was buried at Westminster Cemetery in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.