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<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nLieutenant Alexander Nininger earned the Medal of Honor in the last few moments of his life assigned to the 57th Infantry, Philippine Scouts, near Abucay, Bataan in the Philippines on January 12th, 1942. His citation reads<\/a>;<\/p>\n 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 handgrenades 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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n He was the first soldier awarded the Medal of Honor in World War Two. His earthly remains were hurriedly deposited in a grave and his family want his remains identified and sent home. The New York Times<\/a> reported a few months ago that they are willing to sue the government for that to happen. They’ve given DNA samples towards that end, but the government hasn’t budged;<\/p>\n In the decades since, he has been venerated with a statue, an annual award at West Point and even a Malcolm Gladwell treatise on human potential. But his body has not been found. The Army officially lists him as \u201cnonrecoverable.\u201d<\/p>\n His family disagrees. It says the lieutenant\u2019s bones rest in grave J-7-20 at the American Cemetery in Manila. For 70 years, the family has been pressing the military to identify the remains and bring the fallen lieutenant home.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"