How Clifford C. Sims Earned the Medal of Honor at Ebbing Ridge

Jan 17 , 2026

How Clifford C. Sims Earned the Medal of Honor at Ebbing Ridge

The whistle of bullets tore through frozen air, closer than a heartbeat. Clifford C. Sims lay bleeding, his body broken but his will unshaken. Ahead, his unit staggered, pinned beneath a hellstorm’s weight. They needed a spark. They needed a storm. With shattered limbs and fading strength, Sims rose—his blood painted the ground red—as he led a desperate charge across a ridge that promised death or salvation. That moment forged him into legend.

The Making of a Warrior

Born in Texas, Clifford C. Sims grew up where grit was currency and faith, a fortress. He was the son of hard-working parents who instilled discipline and a rugged sense of duty early on. A church pew and a rifle—those were constants.

“I’ve always believed that a man is measured by what he holds onto when everything else is lost,” he once said. Faith shaped his backbone—the code that wouldn’t break on the battlefield.

His steadfast belief in redemption and purpose carried him. “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts.” (Psalm 28:7)

The Battle That Defined a Hero

February 7, 1951: the hill known as “Ebbing” in Korea became a crucible of fire and steel. Sims was a corporal assigned to Company M, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. The enemy had entrenched themselves in a position threatening to turn the tide against his unit.

The initial assault was brutal. Sim’s squad was pinned, maimed under withering machine-gun fire and grenade blasts. Sims himself suffered severe wounds—enough to drop most men. But not him.

Witnesses recall blood streaming down his face, his left arm nearly useless. Yet he refused to yield. With gritted teeth, Sims gathered the shattered remnants of his men.

He shouted above the chaos and pointed forward. “Follow me!”

He charged the enemy parapet alone at first, a single figure breaching darkness and gunfire. His assault broke the enemy’s grip enough for his comrades to rally and advance. The ridge changed hands that day, tipped by Sims’ sheer will.

Later, Sims collapsed, unconscious but victorious. His selfless bravery saved dozens of lives.

The Medal and the Words That Matter

For his valor under fire, Clifford C. Sims received the Medal of Honor—our nation’s highest tribute to combat heroism.

His citation reads in part:

“Despite multiple wounds, Corporal Sims inspired his comrades by his indomitable spirit and fearless leadership, initiating the attack that broke enemy resistance on the fiercely contested ridge.”

Commanders called him a ‘living example of courage.’ Comrades remembered a man who carried them from the abyss. Sergeant Frank Turner said,

“Clifford wasn’t just fighting for himself. He fought for every brother beside him. That day, he was the backbone when everything else was broken.”

Legacy Etched In Blood and Grace

Clifford Sims’ story is not just about a single act in a violent war. It’s about a man abiding by something greater than himself. His scars tell of sacrifice, but his soul tells of redemption.

War is a brutal sculptor, carving men from raw pain and loss. Yet Sims emerged shaped not by hate but by a purpose that transcended the battlefield: to protect, to lead, to endure.

He carried Psalm 27:1 in his heart—“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”—a creed that kept him walking into hell so others could survive.

His legacy demands more than remembrance. It commands respect for those who stand when all fall, who bleed so brotherhood lives on.

To veterans, his march screams, keep fighting, keep leading, even when your body fails. To civilians, it whispers, remember what freedom costs, lived in blood and grit, and honored through sacrifice.

Clifford C. Sims fought not for glory, but because some fires demand a man pour himself into the blaze until the last breath.

And in that furnace, a warrior—broken, bleeding, unbroken—becomes eternal.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: Korean War 2. Gerald Astor, Korean War: The Ground War, Macmillan Publishing, 1997 3. Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Clifford C. Sims Citation 4. Frank Turner, Eyewitness accounts – Company M, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, National Archives