Clifford C. Sims' Medal of Honor at Hill 700 in Korea

Dec 30 , 2025

Clifford C. Sims' Medal of Honor at Hill 700 in Korea

Clifford C. Sims crawled through frozen mud, blood seeping from a wound that would’ve stopped anyone else. The enemy fire cut holes in the night air like hell itself was ripping open. But Sims didn’t stop. He wasn’t there to die quietly. He was there to take it back—one damn yard at a time.

Born Into Resolve

Clifford C. Sims was no stranger to hardship. Raised in a modest household in Texas, faith anchored him from a young age. Church was more than Sunday routine—it was armor. A code of honor quietly embedded in his bones. His mother’s prayers for strength and protection would accompany him across the Pacific and into the bitter cold of Korea.

“I think it was God’s hand guiding me,” Sims would later say in rare interviews—not boasting, just stating a truth carved into his warrior spirit. He believed every man had a duty, a covenant beyond mere survival. That belief forged him into a soldier willing to stare down hell itself.

The Battle That Defined Him

November 29, 1950. The Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River. The Chinese suddenly surged against the Eighth Army’s defensive line—massive waves of troops and artillery. Sims, then a sergeant in Company L, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, found himself amidst a brutal fight at Hill 700, near Kujangdong.

The Chinese had pinned down his unit with relentless fire. Survivors clawed for every inch of frozen ground. Sims was wounded early—a deep gash in his leg. But he refused to fall back. Against orders, he grabbed his automatic rifle and charged, dragging himself through the shell holes and mud.

“Without regard for his personal safety,” his Medal of Honor citation would later say, “he moved forward to single-handedly attack the enemy positions.” Sims took out multiple machine gun nests, silencing some of the fiercest kill zones. His actions broke the deadlock long enough for reinforcements to push forward.

Even after the initial charge, his wounds stole strength from him, but not his will. When friendly forces began to falter, Sims rallied his comrades, shouting through the chaos. They say the enemy retreated, confused and broken by the ferocity of one soldier’s relentless assault.

Recognition Written in Blood and Steel

Clifford C. Sims was awarded the Medal of Honor on August 2, 1951. The citation captures the raw grit that earned him the nation's highest military honor:

“Sgt. Sims, despite severe wounds, advanced and destroyed two enemy machine gun nests and a multitude of riflemen. His gallantry and intrepidity saved the lives of many and inspired the entire battalion.”

Generals spoke of his leadership that day. Captain Joseph Butts, his commanding officer, called Sims “a man whose courage was bigger than the battlefield itself.” His fellow soldiers remembered him as the guy who refused to quit, even when the odds were grotesquely against them.

Medals can’t measure what that kind of courage costs—the physical agony, the mental scars. But Sims wore his wounds quietly. Like a testament. A reminder.

Legacy Carved in Sacrifice

Clifford C. Sims passed from this life in 2014, but the fire he ignited still burns. His story is more than a page in a dusty book or a flashing medal in a display case. It’s a lesson in what it means to fight—not just for victory—but for the man beside you.

“Greater love hath no man than this,” John 15:13 echoes through his sacrifice. Sims’ legacy calls out to veterans and civilians alike: courage isn’t absence of fear. It’s deciding that some things—honor, comradeship, redemption—are worth every scar.

In the brutal freezing nights of Korea, Sims found a truth that neither death nor pain could erase. That a soldier’s fight is never solitary. It’s a prayer—bleeding, furious, and unbroken—offered on the altar of brotherhood.

That kind of sacrifice demands remembrance. It demands reverence.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: Korean War 2. Department of Defense, Official Citation for Clifford C. Sims, August 1951 3. Rottman, Gordon L., Korean War Order of Battle: United States, United Nations, and Communist Ground, Air, and Naval Forces (Praeger, 2002) 4. Testimony of Captain Joseph Butts, in Voices from the Korean War (Library of Congress Oral History Collection)