Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor is the nation's highest military bravery award.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Four men with ties to Mahoning County, whose bravery in battle earned them Medals of Honor, were honored with the unveiling of a plaque remembering their heroism.
The plaque was unveiled Thursday by Mahoning commissioners and the county's veterans service commission in the county courthouse's vestibule.
The Medal of Honor is the nation's highest award given for military bravery. Since its creation in 1861, more than 3,400 members of the military have received the honor.
The four with Mahoning County ties listed on the plaque, according to citations printed by the U.S. Senate's Committee on Veterans' Affairs, are:
* Isaac Gause, born in Trumbull County, and entered the service in Canfield. A corporal in the 2nd Ohio Cavalry's Company E, he received the medal for capturing the colors of the 8th South Carolina Infantry near Berryville, Va., on Sept. 13, 1864, during the Civil War while engaged in a reconnaissance mission.
* Gus Kefurt, born in Greenville, Pa., and entered the service in Youngstown. A staff sergeant with the Army's 15th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division, Company K, during World War II, on Dec. 23 and 24, 1944, Kefurt jumped through an opening in a wall near Bennwihr, France, and was confronted by about 15 Germans. Kefurt opened fire, killing 10, and captured the others. He then assumed command of his platoon Dec. 24 and led it in hand-to-hand combat, successfully fighting off several enemy patrols and forcing the surrender of an enemy tank. During heavy fighting, he was severely wounded in the leg, but refused medical treatment and continued the battle, directing fire. During several more counterattacks, he stiffened the resistance of his platoon by encouraging the men and by his own fire until he was killed.
* John D. Kelly, born in Youngstown. A private first class with the Marine Corps' 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Company C, he initiated an attack during the Korean War on May 28, 1952, after his company was pinned down by a numerically superior enemy. He was instrumental in the company's holding its position. A radio operator who asked to participate in the assault, he single-handedly assaulted a machine gun bunker, and then successfully stormed into another bunker. He was killed by enemy fire during the battle.
* John A. Logan, who entered the service in Youngstown, and is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery. A major in the U.S. Volunteers' 33rd Infantry, he led his battalion Nov. 11, 1899, in San Jacinto in the Philippine Islands during the Philippine War, against an enemy attack, dying during the battle.