GORDON E. HUGGINS, Private, Company “K”, 104th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, United States Army. For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy. On 7 February 1945, in Saarlautern, Germany, Private Huggins and four companions were engaged in clearing ammunition and explosive from the cellar from a newly taken building which was to be used as a command post. He picked up a grenade with a defective fuse mechanism, fully arming it. There were two windows in the cellar, and realizing that the explosion would probably kill his companions he acted with split-second decision. Shouting a warning to his comrades he ran to a corner, turned his back to the men and held the grenade between his legs until it exploded, hurling him to the floor. His hand was severed and he suffered severe fragment wounds, but by his extraordinary courage he prevented injury to his companions. Private Huggins’ supreme, unselfish devotion to duty exemplifies the highest traditions of the military service.

Mr. Huggins joined the L.O.V. in 1987 and resides in Kansas.