Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Staff Sergeant

Unit:

Company E, 319th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division, U.S. Army

Awarded on:

1945

For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy. On 14 September, Company E, 319th Infantry, with which Sergeant Humphrey was serving as a platoon guide, was assigned the mission of expelling an estimated enemy force of 200 men from a heavily fortified position near Pompey, France. As the attack progressed, the platoon to which Sergeant Humphrey was assigned advanced to within fifty yards of the enemy position where they were caught in a withering machine-gun and rifle cross-fire which inflicted heavy casualties and momentarily disorganized the remainder of the platoon, and with complete disregard for his own safety, heroically led his men forward into the raking fire. His supreme courage inspired his men to overrun and destroy the enemy positions, killing and routing the overwhelmingly superior enemy forces. Sergeant Humphrey, by the skillful use of his bayonet and total of seventeen hand grenades, personally destroyed five enemy machine-gun positions and their occupants. The inspiring leadership and conspicuous bravery of Sergeant Humphrey, his bold, courageous determination, and zealous devotion to duty, exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States.

Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army, General Orders No. 15 (1945).