Medal of Honor Memorial Committee

☞ The Winterport Medal of Honor Committee is dedicated to researching, recommending, and carrying out, initiatives within the town and surrounding community to celebrate, educate, and memorialize our town's contribution to the defense of our Nation and protection of the freedoms we all hold dear.		➴ Our Vision is to help Winterport achieve a comprehensive approach to honoring and recognizing the contributions and sacrifices of our Veterans, including a dedicated site honoring all branches of service, while also highlighting the town's two Medal of Honor recipients, as well as other means of publicly recognizing the town's veterans and educating the general public about their service to our community and Nation.
The Town is proud to honor two Medal of Honor Recipients who called Winterport home.

RANK: FIRST LIEUTENANT CONFLICT/ERA: U.S. CIVIL WAR UNIT/COMMAND: COMPANY F, 20TH MAINE INFANTRY MILITARY SERVICE BRANCH: U.S. ARMY BIRTH: Winterport, Maine. May 13, 1838 MEDAL OF HONOR ACTION DATE: APRIL 1, 1865 MEDAL OF HONOR ACTION PLACE: FIVE FORKS, VIRGINIA, USA INTERNMENT: Oak Hill Cemetery, Winterport, ME CITATION: During a rush at the enemy, Lt. Fernald seized, during a scuffle, the flag of the 9th Virginia Infantry (C.S.A.). The flag represented a unit's morale and fighting spirit. Enemy soldiers always delivered their deadliest fire at those holding aloft a flag. Capturing an enemy's colors was one of the outstanding feats of a Civil War battle. Losing one's flag to the enemy was a shame second only to cowardice in battle.		RANK: SERGEANT CONFLICT/ERA: WORLD WAR II UNIT/COMMAND: COMPANY M, 35TH INFANTRY, 25TH INFANTRY DIVISION MILITARY SERVICE BRANCH: U.S. ARMY (Prior U.S. Navy) BIRTH: Norwich, Connecticut. June 21, 1913 PLACE OF ENLISTMENT: Winterport, ME. SEP 1940 MEDAL OF HONOR ACTION DATE: JANUARY 10, 1943 MEDAL OF HONOR ACTION PLACE: MOUNT AUSTEN, GUADALCANAL, SOLOMON ISLANDS INTERNMENT: National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, HI CITATION: For gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. As leader of a machine-gun section charged with the protection of other battalion units, his group was attacked by a superior number of Japanese, his gunner killed, his assistant gunner wounded, and an adjoining guncrew put out of action. Ordered to withdraw from this hazardous position, Sgt. Fournier refused to retire but rushed forward to the idle gun and, with the aid of another soldier who joined him, held up the machine gun by the tripod to increase its field of action. They opened fire and inflicted heavy casualties upon the enemy. While so engaged both these gallant soldiers were killed, but their sturdy defensive action was a decisive factor in the following success of the attacking battalion.

The Medal of Honor Memorial Committee Members are: Matt Williams (Chair) Phil Higgins (Vice Chair) Kevin Kelley (Secretary) Derek Chase Sean Kearns		Medal of Honor Memorial Committee Meeting Minutes