Nicholas Minue

Nicholas Minue (March 13, 1905 – April 28, 1943) was a Ukrainian American and United States Army career veteran who received the Medal of Honor posthumously in World War II. Private Minue with fixed bayonet, singlehandedly assaulted and destroyed several enemy positions while under fire near Medjez El Bab, Tunisia, until he was fatally wounded.

Nicholas Minue
Born(1905-03-13)March 13, 1905
Sedden, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary
DiedApril 28, 1943(1943-04-28) (aged 38)
Medjez El Bab, Tunisia
Place of burial
North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial, Carthage, Tunisia
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1927–1943
RankPrivate (voluntarily reduced from Sergeant)
UnitCompany A, 1st Battalion, 6th Armored Infantry Regiment 1st Armored Division
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsMedal of Honor
Bronze Star Medal
Purple Heart
Good Conduct Medal
American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Combat Infantryman Badge

Biography
A stone mason refreshes the gold leaf on Minue's grave marker at North Africa American Cemetery before Memorial Day 2010

Minue was born in Sedden, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria[1] to ethnic Ukrainian parents.

Military service

Minue enlisted in the United States Army in 1927,[1] in Carteret, New Jersey. He held the rank sergeant when World War II began.

World War II

He wanted to serve overseas in a combat unit during World War II. To do so, he volunteered to give up his rank of sergeant for the lower rank of private. In December 1942, he was assigned to a rifle platoon of Company A, 1st Battalion, 6th Armored Infantry Regiment in 1942.[2]

Death and burial

Pvt. Minue was killed in action while fighting soldiers of German Field Marshal Rommel's Afrika Korps on April 28, 1943. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions that day. He is buried in the North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial in Carthage, Tunisia.[3] His grave can be found in Section E, Line 8. Grave 4.[3]

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company A, 6th Armored Infantry, 1st Armored Division. Place and date: Near MedjezelBab, Tunisia, April 28, 1943. Entered service at: Carteret, N.J. Birth: Sedden, Poland. G.O. No.: 24, March 25, 1944.

Citation:

For distinguishing himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the loss of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy on 28 April 1943, in the vicinity of MedjezelBab, Tunisia. When the advance of the assault elements of Company A was held up by flanking fire from an enemy machinegun nest, Pvt. Minue voluntarily, alone, and unhesitatingly, with complete disregard of his own welfare, charged the enemy entrenched position with fixed bayonet. Pvt. Minue assaulted the enemy under a withering machinegun and rifle fire, killing approximately 10 enemy machinegunners and riflemen. After completely destroying this position, Pvt. Minue continued forward, routing enemy riflemen from dugout positions until he was fatally wounded. The courage, fearlessness and aggressiveness displayed by Pvt. Minue in the face of inevitable death was unquestionably the factor that gave his company the offensive spirit that was necessary for advancing and driving the enemy from the entire sector.[4]

Personal honors

Some of Pvt. Minue's personal honors:

  • In early 1956, the U.S. Army christened two new 172 foot, 860 ton, passenger and vehicle ferries which were named after two Medal of Honor recipients from the region, the Lt. Samuel S. Coursen and the Private Nicholas Minue. Both boats operated in New York Harbor between Manhattan and the US Army post and US Army headquarters at Fort Jay, Governors Island.[5] Both boats continued in service when Governors Island became a U.S. Coast Guard base in 1966. In 1996, the Minue was declared excess as the Coast Guard closed the base. Sold to a maritime speculator, it is now in decrepit condition in dock in Staten Island New York. This ferryboat appeared in the TV murder mystery Mike Hammer in the episode "More Than Murder" (IMDB).
  • Private Nicholas Minue Elementary School, Carteret, New Jersey.
  • One of the main roads on Contingency Operating Base Speicher, in Tikrit, Iraq, is named in his honor.
  • Minue Drive, East Fort Bliss, Texas.
  • Minue Road, Fort Hood, Texas.
  • Pvt. Nicholas Minue UAV Post 7, New York City, New York.
  • Pvt. Nicholas Minue VFW Star Landing Post 2314, Carteret, New Jersey

See also

References
  1. UAV Tribune, February 2012, p. 4, "Ukrainian American Recipients of the Medal of Honor".
  3. American Battle Monuments Commission
  4. ""MINUE, NICHOLAS" entry". Medal of Honor recipients: World War II (M-S). United States Army Center of Military History. June 8, 2009. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
  5. "First Army Gets Two Ferryboats", New York Times, October 20, 1956
 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History.
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