The Valorous Suicide Bombing Of John Robert Fox

Congressional Medal of Honor SocietyJohn Robert Fox called in an artillery strike on his own position to save a town from the Nazis.

John Robert Fox received the Distinguished Service Cross when he was 29 years old. A first lieutenant in the military, he tragically never wore it — as he was killed in action during World War II. According to the National Medal of Honor Museum, Fox was surrounded by 100 Nazi soldiers in Sommocolonia, Italy, and faced certain death — so he called in defensive artillery on his own position to kill them.

Born on May 18, 1915, in Cincinnati, Ohio, John Robert Fox attended Ohio State University. He transferred to Wilberforce University because it was one of the few schools that permitted Black Americans to join the Reserve Officer Training Corps program — and joined the United States Army in 1941.

Fox was a gifted and fair poker player — earning him the respect of his shipboard peers crossing the Atlantic in March 1944, according to the National Medal of Honor Museum. A lieutenant in the 366th Infantry Regiment, he spent the next few months on guard and service duty across Europe. And when the Germans arrived at the Italian Front in November, Fox entered combat.

Fox was assigned to the Fifth Army of the 92nd Division, the only Black infantry group to see European combat during the war. It took a buffalo as its symbol to honor the Black Buffalo Soldiers who fought on the American frontier after the Civil War. On Dec. 26, 1944, Fox volunteered to stay in Sommocolonia to fight off the Nazis.

Fox and his men were outnumbered three to one and low on ammo when they realized German soldiers had already infiltrated the town. Ordered to “hold at all costs,” Fox began to call in increasingly closer artillery fire to stave off incoming Nazi troops. He eventually ordered his men to retreat — before giving his final order.

He gave coordinates for an artillery strike on his own position only to receive a warning that this would mean his life. Fox wasted no time in affirming that he knew what he was doing. According to the National Medal of Honor Museum, his final words were: “Fire it! There’s more of them than there are of us. Give them hell!”

His body was recovered one week later when the Allies retook the town. Fox’s bravery permitted fellow American soldiers and Italian civilians to escape with their lives. In 1997, he was posthumously given a Medal of Honor by the Bill Clinton Administration, an honor that had originally been denied because of his race.

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