Charles Andrew MacGillivary

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Charles Andrew MacGillivary
January 7, 1917(1917-01-07) – June 24, 2000 (aged 83)

Charles Andrew MacGillivary
Place of birth Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Place of death Brockton, Massachusetts
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 1942-1945
Rank Sergeant
Unit 71st Infantry, 44th Infantry Division
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Medal of Honor
Distinguished Service Cross
Bronze Star
Purple Heart
Croix de guerre

Charles Andrew MacGillivary (17 January 1917 - 24 June 2000) was a Medal of Honor recipient, born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. A Sergeant in the United States Army, he was attached to Company I, 71st Infantry, 44th Infantry Division during World War II.

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[edit] Pre-War

Born to Cardigan Scot Roland MacGillivary and Minnie Quinn, he attended Queens Square School in Charlottetown and joined the Merchant Marines at age 16. Shortly thereafter, MacGillivary emigrated to the United States, to live with his older brother in Boston, Massachusetts.

After hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor, he decided the right thing to do was to volunteer for the U.S. Army. In January 1942, he joined the Army as a private soldier and was assigned to the European Theatre of Operations.

He told the United States Senate Subcommittee on Immigration 50 years later, that when he was in boot camp:

"an officer asked me and two other immigrants ... whether we wanted to become U.S. citizens. [They took us] to a federal courthouse and [swore us] in before a judge. I thought that if I was going to fight for this country, I should be a U.S. citizen."
President Harry S. Truman awards Charles MacGillivary the Congressional Medal of Honor.
President Harry S. Truman awards Charles MacGillivary the Congressional Medal of Honor.

[edit] Medal of Honor citation

MacGillivary's first wartime action came during the Battle of Normandy, landing on Omaha Beach in 1944. From Omaha Beach MacGillivary would be involved in numerous liberation conflicts throughout France, before reaching Wœlfling during the Battle of the Bulge.

When his unit was surrounded on 1 January 1945 by the 17th German Panzer Grenadier Division a Waffen-SS Panzer unit in Wœlfling, France, MacGillivary, then 27, picked up a machine gun and knocked out four German machine gun nests, killing 36 German soldiers. He lost his right arm in this action. Interestingly the unit he fought to win his decoration, was given the title Götz von Berlichingen after a 15th century German knight who lost his right hand.

MacGillivary told a Boston Globe reporter in 1995:

"I looked down and my right arm wasn’t there. When you get hit by a machine gun, it’s like somebody put a hot poker in you. I stuck the stump of my arm into the snow, but the warm blood melted the snow. I figured I was dying. When they rescued me, my arm had a cake of bloody ice frozen around it, sealing the wound. If it had been summer, I’d [have been] dead."

On August 25, 1945 MacGillivary personally received a Medal of Honor for his efforts from President Harry S. Truman the award letter is as follows:

Complete text of citation available on image page.

[edit] Other awards

For other actions during World War II MacGillivary also received the Purple Heart with three oak leaf clusters, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Bronze Star, the Soldier's Medal, and the French Croix de Guerre.

[edit] Post-World War II

After the war MacGillivary returned home to Boston where for a short time he worked as a special agent for Boston's Treasury Department. He joined the United States Customs Service in 1950 starting as a warehouse officer, but soon became an agent for the United States Customs Office of Investigations, conducting special investigations. His daughter Charlene Corea remembered him as being particularly busy in the winter inspecting Christmas trees that entered the United States from Canada. He retired from the Customs Service in 1975.

Sergeant Charles A. MacGillivary was enrolled as a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts the third oldest chartered military organization in the world on 6 April 1992. He was the seventh member to receive the Medal of Honor.

Charles MacGillivary's grave in Arlington National Cemetery
Charles MacGillivary's grave in Arlington National Cemetery

[edit] Death

MacGillivary, was a resident of Braintree, Massachusetts from 1957 until his death at age 83 on Saturday 24 June 2000 in the VA Hospital in Brockton, Massachusetts. Rev. Philip Salois, who had himself received a Silver Star in the Vietnam War performed the funeral. Then Governor of Massachusetts Paul Cellucci was in attendance at MacGillivary's funeral. He is buried beside his wife, Esther, in Section 48 (grave 568) of Arlington National Cemetery.

[edit] See also

United States Army Portal

[edit] References