John Joseph Tominac – Colonel, United States Army

John Joseph Tominac, Colonel, United States Army, buried in Section 66 Number 5141, July 1998.

Citation

Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company I, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Saulx de Vesoul, France, 12 September 1944. Entered service at: Conemaugh, Pennsylvania. Birth: Conemaugh, Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 20, 29 March 1945.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyone the call of duty on 12 September 1944, in an attack on Saulz de Vesoul, France, 1st LT Tominac charged alone over 50 yards of exposed terrain onto an enemy roadblock to dispatch a 3 man crew of German machine gunners with a single burst from his Thompson machinegun.

After smashing the enemy outpost, he led 1 of his squads in the annihilation of a second hostile group defended by mortar, machinegun, automatic pistol, rifle and grenade fire, killing about 30 of the enemy.

Reaching the suburbs of the town, he advanced 50 yards ahead of his men to reconnoiter a third enemy position which commanded the road with a 77-mm. SP gun supported by infantry elements. The SP gun opened fire on his supporting tank, setting it afire with a direct hit. A fragment from the same shell painfully wounded 1st LT Tominac in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. As the crew abandoned the M-4 Tank, which was rolling down the hill toward the enemy, 1st LT Tominac picked himself up and jumped onto the hull of the burning vehicle. Despite withering enemy machinegun, mortar, pistol, and sniper fire, which was ricocheting off the hull and turret of the M-4, 1st LT Tominac climbed to the turret and gripped the 50-caliber antiaircraft machinegun. Plainly silhouetted against the sky, painfully wounded, and with the tank burning beneath his feet, he directed bursts of machinegun fire on the roadblock, the SP gun, and the supporting German infantrymen, and forced the enemy to withdraw from his prepared position. Jumping off the tank before it exploded, 1st LT Tominac refused evacuation despite his painful wound.

Calling upon a sergeant to extract the shell fragments from his shoulder with a pocketknife, he continued to direct the assault, led his squad in a hand-grenade attack against a fortified position occupied by 32 of the enemy armed with machineguns, machine pistols, and rifles, and compelled them to surrender. His outstanding heroism and exemplary leadership resulted in the destruction of 4 successive enemy defensive positions, surrender of a vital sector of the city Saulx de Vesoul, and the death or capture of at least 60 of the enemy.

On April 22, 1945, Lieutenant General A. M. Patch, Seventh Army Commander, conferred the Medal of Honor on five 3rd Division officers and men. Left to right: Lt. Col. Keith L. Ware, Lt. John J. Tominac, T/Sgt. Russell E. Dunham, S/Sgt. Lucien Adams, and Pfc. Wilburn K. Ross.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard