Chris Carr (Medal of Honor)

Chris Carr (born Christos H. Karaberis, April 6, 1914 – September 16, 1970) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.

Chris Carr
Born	(1914-04-06)April 6, 1914 Manchester, New Hampshire, US
Died	September 16, 1970(1970-09-16) (aged 56) Huntington Beach, California, US
Place of burial	Los Angeles National Cemetery, Los Angeles, California
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	United States Army
Years of service	1942–1953
Rank	Sergeant First Class
Unit	337th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division
Battles / wars	World War II Korean War
Awards	Medal of Honor

Biography

Carr (front row left) was one of 15 members of the U.S. Army who received the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman at the White House on October 12, 1945.

Carr was born Christos H. Karaberis in Manchester, New Hampshire. He joined the Army from his hometown in October 1942 and by October 1, 1944, was serving as a sergeant in Company L, 337th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division. On that day and the following day, near Guignola, Italy, he single-handedly attacked and captured five German machine gun emplacements. For these actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor a year later on November 1, 1945. After the war, he legally changed his name from "Christos Karaberis" to "Chris Carr". He reached the rank of sergeant first class and served in the Korean War before leaving the Army.

Carr died at age 56 and was buried in Los Angeles National Cemetery, Los Angeles, California.

Awards and decorations

Medal of Honor

Carr's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

Citation

Leading a squad of Company L, he gallantly cleared the way for his company's approach along a ridge toward its objective, the Casoni di Remagna. When his platoon was pinned down by heavy fire from enemy mortars, machineguns, machine pistols, and rifles, he climbed in advance of his squad on a maneuver around the left flank to locate and eliminate the enemy gun positions. Undeterred by deadly fire that ricocheted off the barren rocky hillside, he crept to the rear of the first machinegun and charged, firing his submachinegun. In this surprise attack he captured 8 prisoners and turned them over to his squad before striking out alone for a second machinegun. Discovered in his advance and subjected to direct fire from the hostile weapon, he leaped to his feet and ran forward, weaving and crouching, pouring automatic fire into the emplacement that killed 4 of its defenders and forced the surrender of a lone survivor. He again moved forward through heavy fire to attack a third machinegun. When close to the emplacement, he closed with a nerve-shattering shout and burst of fire. Paralyzed by his whirlwind attack, all 4 gunners immediately surrendered. Once more advancing aggressively in the face of a thoroughly alerted enemy, he approached a point of high ground occupied by 2 machineguns which were firing on his company on the slope below. Charging the first of these weapons, he killed 4 of the crew and captured 3 more. The 6 defenders of the adjacent position, cowed by the savagery of his assault, immediately gave up. By his l-man attack, heroically and voluntarily undertaken in the face of tremendous risks, Sgt. Karaberis captured 5 enemy machinegun positions, killed 8 Germans, took 22 prisoners, cleared the ridge leading to his company's objective, and drove a deep wedge into the enemy line, making it possible for his battalion to occupy important, commanding ground.

Commendations

Carr's awards include the following:

Badge	Combat Infantryman Badge
1st Row	Medal of Honor
2nd Row	Bronze Star				Army Good Conduct Medal with bronze clasp and 2 loops				American Campaign Medal
3rd Row	European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 2 Campaign stars				World War II Victory Medal				National Defense Service Medal
4th Row	Korean Service Medal with 1 Campaign star				United Nations Korea Medal				Korean War Service Medal
Badge	Expert Marksmanship Badge with Rifle, Submachine Gun, and Machine Gun weapon qualification clasps
Unit award	Army Presidential Unit Citation with 1 Oak leaf cluster

See also

• List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History.

• "Medal of Honor recipients – World War II (A–F)". Medal of Honor citations. United States Army Center of Military History. June 8, 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2008-02-22.