William J. Crawford Wounded Defender of Hill 49 and Medal of Honor Her

Dec 19 , 2025

William J. Crawford Wounded Defender of Hill 49 and Medal of Honor Hero

A hailstorm of enemy bullets tore through the night air. William J. Crawford lay wounded, blood slicking his hands—but his rifle never wavered. No surrender, no mercy. That night on Hill 49, near the Italian town of La Torre, Crawford became more than a soldier; he became a shield for his broken unit. He stood alone, a bastion against the storm of war.

From Sandlot to Battlefield

Born in Alamo, New Mexico, William J. Crawford grew up in a landscape as harsh and unforgiving as the war he’d fight years later. The son of a farming family, he learned early that labor and grit earned survival. Faith was the cornerstone—his mother’s prayers echoing in a household bound by Scripture and sacrifice.

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress” was no mere phrase; it was a covenant he carried into every scrap.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Crawford answered the call without hesitation. Drafted in January 1942, he joined the 35th Infantry Division, a unit forged in the dust and fire of Patton’s command. Combat was his crucible.

Hill 49: A Baptism of Fire

October 23, 1944. The Italian Campaign was a meat grinder—mountainous terrain, fierce German resistance, blood and mud mingled with the cries of the fallen. Crawford’s unit took Hill 49, a strategic vantage over the surrounding valleys.

Enemy forces launched a ferocious counterattack that evening. Locked in a brutal firefight, Crawford was hit—his leg shattered by a bullet, pain searing like fire. Yet, he refused evacuation. He wrapped his leg to staunch the bleeding and kept fighting.

Surrounded on three sides, ammo running low, the enemy pressed harder. Crawford stood his ground behind his machine gun, firing burst after burst, buying time for his comrades to regroup. When the gun jammed, he fixed it with shaking hands, bleeding but relentless.

He kept the Germans at bay all night, dragging himself between foxholes and sharing his last canteen of water with a wounded soldier. Dawn broke with Crawford still firing, immovable as the hill itself.

Medal of Honor: Valor Etched in Blood

For his selfless courage, William J. Crawford received the Medal of Honor on August 23, 1945. His citation detailed “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty.” His actions saved countless lives, preventing the enemy from retaking Hill 49 and turning the tide in that sector.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert R. Morgan, commanding Crawford’s regiment, called his stand on Hill 49 “one of the most heroic I have seen in this war.” Fellow soldiers remembered his unbreakable spirit—a man whose strength was more than physical.

“I’m just a man who did what any of my buddies would do,” Crawford said in a rare post-war interview. But his scars told a story of sacrifice few could match.

Enduring Legacy: Beyond the Battlefield

William J. Crawford left the army with a limp and a testimony that hardship reveals character. He lived humbly in New Mexico, a quiet example of faith forged in fire. Veterans who met him spoke of his unwavering kindness, grounded in a belief that their sacrifice was not in vain.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9) — Crawford embodied that promise, not with pacifism but through fierce protection of his fellow soldiers.

His story is not about glory but duty. It’s about standing when the world demands you fall, about finding strength in weakness, and purpose in pain.

The battlefield leaves nothing untouched: flesh, mind, spirit. William J. Crawford’s legacy whispers across decades—a reminder that courage is refusing to quit even when every part of you screams stop. His scars are not symbols of suffering alone but marks of redemption, proof that valor can heal wounds deeper than flesh.

For veterans bearing their own battles—known and unseen—may Crawford’s shield stand with you.

For those who watch from afar, may you recognize that freedom furnished by men like him was bought in blood, sweat, and unyielding soul.

“He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29).

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II 2. 35th Infantry Division Association, History of the 35th Infantry in WWII 3. A. Eppinga, They Fought as Brothers: The Story of the 35th Infantry Division 4. Interview with William J. Crawford, Veterans Oral History Project, 1980