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| Lt. Alexander Nininger was posthumously awarded the first Medal of Honor during WW2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/30361248/alexander-ramsey-nininger https://hiveminer.com/Tags/nininger |
Alexander "Sandy" Ramsey Nininger, Jr. never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on October 30, 1918 in Georgia. His parents Alexander and Gertrude were born in Minnesota and New York, respectively. His grandfather had the same name and served as an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War. His father worked as a moving picture theater manager in Florida. Alexander had an older half-brother and an older sister. By 1940 Alexander was attending the US Military Academy in West Point, New York. Upon graduation in 1941 he requested being assigned to the Philippines. Prior to leaving he bought a phonograph and some symphony records. He particularly like Tchaikovsky. Despite being a West Point army officer, Sandy had an interest in classical music, theater, poetry, and drawing.
Sandy became a lieutenant in Company A, 1st Battalion, 57th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Scouts. By early January 1942, the American forces were setting up a defensive position on the Bataan peninsula. On January 12, 1942 Lt. Nininger volunteered to switch over to Company K. His new company came under heavy enemy attack. Lt. Nininger was killed leading a counter-attack against the enemy.
General Douglas MacArthur recommended Lt. Nininger for the Medal of Honor. It was the first one bestowed during World War 2.
His Medal of Honor citation reads as follows:
- For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy near Abucay, Bataan, Philippine Islands, on 12 January 1942. This officer, though assigned to another company not then engaged in combat, voluntarily attached himself to Company K, same regiment, while that unit was being attacked by enemy force superior in firepower.
- Enemy snipers in trees and foxholes had stopped a counterattack to regain part of position. In hand-to-hand fighting which followed, 2d Lt. Nininger repeatedly forced his way to and into the hostile position. Though exposed to heavy enemy fire, he continued to attack with rifle and hand grenades and succeeded in destroying several enemy groups in foxholes and enemy snipers. Although wounded 3 times, he continued his attacks until he was killed after pushing alone far within the enemy position.
- When his body was found after recapture of the position, 1 enemy officer and 2 enemy soldiers lay dead around him.
General MacArthur claims this action gave the Americans the time needed to set up the defense of Corregidor and postponed the Japanese victory.
His cenotaph grave is at Arlington National Cemetery. A barracks at West Point bears his name.
BOB FELLER
On the same day as Alexander Nininger was born, future Major League Baseball hall-of-famer Bob Feller was born in Iowa. A pitching phenom from an early age, he starting pitching for the Cleveland Indians at age 17.
After six years of all-star level play, Bob tried to volunteer as a pilot right after Pearl Harbor. He failed the hearing test so he joined the navy where he served as chief petty officer on the battleship USS Alabama and earned eight battle stars. He also found time to pitch for numerous Navy baseball teams.
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| https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/sports/baseball/17reflect.html |
Last year on this date I profiled Frederick Toll, 30th Infantry Division. You can read about Frederick here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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