Medal of Honor Charge by Staff Sergeant Clifford C. Sims at Hill 673

Feb 06 , 2026

Medal of Honor Charge by Staff Sergeant Clifford C. Sims at Hill 673

Clifford C. Sims was bleeding out—but he never quit moving forward. A dozen enemies ahead. His platoon pinned down by a storm of bullets and shouts. A crushing wound tore through his side, hot and relentless. Still, he dragged himself up. He would not let his men die under his watch. Every inch forward was a battle for survival and salvation.

Born From Grit and Grace

Clifford Charles Sims came from humble soil—North Carolina, 1929. Raised in a hard-working family where faith was as vital as food. The church pew was where he learned a code stitched tight with scripture and steel. "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.” (John 15:13)

He carried that weight before enlistment, and it followed him into the unforgiving landscape of Korea. A soldier not just of arms, but of heart. His faith anchored a man who understood the battlefield was no place for hesitation.

The Battle That Defined Him: July 13, 1953, near Kumhwa

Sims was a Staff Sergeant in Company E, 224th Infantry Regiment, 40th Infantry Division. The Korean War was drawing to a close, but the fighting had not stopped. Hill 673 became a crucible.

Enemy forces launched a fierce counterattack. Sims’ unit found itself trapped under punishing fire. Their options were few: retreat or fight harder. Sims chose the latter, refusing to let fear dictate the day.

Despite a severe thigh wound and multiple shrapnel injuries, he led his squad in a desperate charge up the steep slope. Each step was agony. Blood soaked the dirt beneath his boots. Yet with grit refusing to bow to pain, he forced enemy combatants back. Returning fire, calling orders with a hoarse shout, dragging forward wounded comrades.

“His coolness under fire, his fearlessness and his spectacular initiative in leading a counterattack against superior enemy forces, and his single-minded devotion to his men saved many lives and inspired them to renewed acts of heroism.” — Medal of Honor citation^1

Sims never faltered until the hill was secured. Only then did exhaustion claim him.

Honors Earned in Blood

For that day, Sims received the Medal of Honor. The highest American military decoration. A testament not just to bravery but to the savage will to protect his brothers-in-arms.

The official citation lays it bare:

“Staff Sergeant Sims, with complete disregard for his personal safety, courageously led an attack upon the enemy despite his wounds… His indomitable courage and devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.”

His story was shared in countless military histories and war memorials, but for Sims, medals meant little without the memory of his men—those saved and those lost.

A Legacy Written in Sacrifice

Clifford Sims taught us what courage looks like raw, without glamour. It’s pain ignored, fear confronted, and brotherhood honored with every breath. The battlefield can scar a man, but it can also forge him.

In the decades that followed, Sims lived quietly, carrying the heavy weight of what war demands. Veterans like him bear wounds unseen, proof that sacrifice is a lifelong battle.

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.” (Psalm 28:7) Sims’ faith was no afterthought—it was the backbone beneath the bullet-ripped flesh.

Our duty is to remember. To honor men like Clifford C. Sims—not just their medals, but the merciless days they endured, the lives they saved, and the legacy of redemption sown in blood and courage.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: Korean War 2. Greene, Jerry. Korean War Biographies: 40th Infantry Division, 2017 3. Department of Defense, Official Medal of Honor Citation for Clifford C. Sims