When Cadets At The US Air Force Academy Realized Their Janitor Was Medal Of Honor War Hero
Perhaps it was the way he carried himself in an unassuming and humble manner, but day after day hundreds of Air Force Academy cadets would pass this janitor in the hall oblivious to the greatness that was among them.
In the mid-1970s, William Crawford might spend one day sweeping the halls and another cleaning the bathrooms, but it was a day approximately 30 years prior that would create for him a special place in the history of war. In 1943 in Italy, the only thing Private William Crawford was cleaning out was German machine gun nest and bunkers.
Under heavy fire and at great risk to himself, his gallantry was so audacious that it earned him the Medal of Honor and the respect of any man who witnessed his actions. And yet, for the cadets at the Air Force Academy, it would take a student’s study of the Allied campaign in Italy to realize who it was that walked among them.
Once the cadets realized the humble janitor was a recipient of the nation’s highest military honor, that would never be able to look at him the same and the secret was out.
William J. Crawford, Medal of Honor recipient.
A Humble Spirit
William Crawford was born in 1918 in Pueblo, Colorado. For Crawford, he would always call the state of Colorado home despite serving a long career in the military where he was assigned to various duty stations.
It was after retiring from the Army that he returned to Colorado and took up his job as a janitor at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
Interior of Cadet Chapel. By Hustvedt – CC BY-SA 3.0
The cadets would report that the shy janitor they only knew as Mr. Crawford simply blended into the background as he did his job without much fanfare. However, when one of the cadets began reading a book detailing the Allied advance through Italy he came upon the story of a medal of honor recipient named William Crawford.
Talking to his roommate, Cadet James Moschgat, Class of ’77 made the connection and said: said, “Holy cow, you’re not going to believe this, but I think our janitor is a Medal of Honor [recipient].” The next day, the cadet took the book to Crawford and simply asked if this was him.
Perhaps weighing whether it was worth it to expose his gallantry, Crawford stared at the book for a while then simply said, “That was a long time ago and one day in my life.”
US Infantrymen during the Italian Campaign
He would then be taken back to that fateful day in Italy and recount the story as only the man who lived it could do. By September 1943, the Allies were pushing through southern Italy slugging it out with a resilient German army.
For Crawford and the 36th infantry division, that would place them near Altavilla Silentina with orders to take Hill 424.
One Man Assault
On September 13th, Company I was assaulting enemy positions on the hill when the entire company was pinned down by intense machine-guns fire and mortars.
Serving as the squad scout for third platoon, Private Crawford was near the front of this assault and located the first of the gun positions wreaking havoc on the company.
Enemy artillery in the area. Photo Credit .
Without orders, he took it upon himself to eliminate the threat single-handedly. Under heavy fire, he crawled forward to within a few yards of the gun and placement and lobbed a grenade directly on top of the three defenders.
Meanwhile, the rest of the company finally made it to the crest of the hill when they were again coming under fire from two more machine gun nests entrenched in a higher ridge. Again on his own initiative, Crawford set out to destroy the threat.
Crawling under the storm of bullets, Crawford came upon the first machine gun nest and with perfect accuracy once again landed a grenade right in their lap.
Moving on to the second gun, he was able to take it out of action causing the rest of the defenders to flee as they opted not to stick around for a visit from the man they had just watched single-handedly destroy three entrenched positions.
Map of the Italian Campaign. Altavilla is located near Salerno. Photo credit .
Thanks to Crawford’s gallant actions, Hill 424 was successfully overtaken and the Allied advance continued. Unfortunately for Crawford, his position at the front of the assault would eventually lead to his capture by the Germans during the chaos of the battle.
The rest of the company had believed Crawford was killed in action as reports of his gallantry advanced up the chain of command. And for his actions that day in Italy, William Crawford was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, but that is not where the story would end.
Back to Life
In 1944, the medal was presented to his father who accepted it on behalf of his son he presumed to have died in combat. But later in 1944 when a group of soldiers was rescued from German captivity, it turned out William Crawford was among them, oblivious to the fact that he was now the recipient of the nation’s highest military honor.
Crawford would continue to serve in the military after World War II and retired in 1967 at the rank of Master Sergeant. After his distinguished and yet humble career in the military, this unassuming man would take a job as a janitor at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
It was here in 1976 that the truth would come out, and future Air Force officers would get a lesson in both gallantry and incredible humility. As the cadets looked to their janitor with a newfound respect, they would eventually coax the painfully shy man into speaking about his experience to the next generation of leaders.
In one exchange, Crawford related the point that he never personally received his Medal of Honor with any ceremony due to his captivity and presumed death. The students and staff of the Air Force Academy would remember this fact and see to it that he had his day.
In 1984 when Pres. Ronald Reagan came to speak at that year’s graduation ceremony; they had arranged for their gallant janitor to finally stand face-to-face with the President of the United States and receive his due commendation.
William Crawford died at the age of 81 in the year 2000 at his home in Colorado. And although Crawford was a veteran of the Army, he would become the only non-U.S. Air Force enlisted person buried at the United States Air Force Academy Cemetery in Colorado Springs.
The cadets regarded him as one of their own and gave him all the respect such a man deserved.
Photo of the Medal of Honor memorial in Pueblo Colorado...Four MoH recipients are from Pubelo CO. M/Sgt Crawford is second from left.
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/air-force-academy-janitor-medal-of_honor-x.html
Credit: “A Janitor’s 10 Lessons on Leadership” – COL James E. Moschgat (USAF Ret.)
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Never judge a book by it's cover, or make assumptions about people.
What a great story - what a great hero.
I really enjoyed finding this story, Buzz...A really humble and brave man.
I hope he received the full military honours there, like the gun salute, and passing the folded flag to his family.
I'm certain that he did Buzz.
Yes, what a great story. Comes at a good time as well.
Never judge a book by it's cover, or make assumptions about people.
Well, fortunately we have NT-- no one here would ever do anything like that!
Sadly it's a regular occurance on NT, Krish.
Krishna - hate to disagree with you, but there are a number of people, men and women, on NT who WOULD do something like that.
You never know what your brother/sister would/will do to protect his brothers/sisters/family in a time of crisis. 'Member the football coach at the high school in Florida??
1st, I think that you misunderstood Krish's comment.
Wouldn't doubt it - mind's too fuzzy lately
LOL, Koffee time 1st.
Hope Uppy has our gallons of java waiting for us, eh?
Oh, for sure. Uppy is a lifesaver..
So true, Kavika. Yet, there are many who feel the need to sit in judgement of others to make themselves feel more important it seems.
Yup.
Fascinating story...thanks for posting this!
Thanks Krish.
What a great story
Thanks charger.
Somehow it always seems as if the bravest are also the most humble about it. Great story.
I find that to be true more often then not. A true Hero rarely brags about their good deeds. It is usually those who like to put themselves on a Pedestal above others that engage in tooting their own horns.
My Brother served two tours of duty in Vietnam in the Navy aboard a PT Boat. During his last tour of duty he was a Purple Heart for helping rescue 12 Marines trapped on an islet by the Viet Cong snipers. He never told anyone in the family about it, not even his Wife and Sons never knew. It wasn't until a few years before his death that he ever spoke of it after his return to the States. The fact that all the crew on the PT Boat were killed except for my Brother and the Coxswain. The memory of losing all his friends aboard the boat was simply too painful for him to want to think about, much less want to talk about.
He simply never considered himself to be a hero.
How true, Randy.
A review of MoH winners and their stories, in their own words, generally show humility and not thinking they did anything more important than their brothers in combat did. Quiet, courageous Americans.
I was in the Air Force in 1984 and remember this story-it was in the Air Force Times. It saddens me that I have to wonder if the current generation of Americans would do the same or just throw in the towel.....it seems we have lost the sense of 'us' to a sense of 'me'.
just a minor correction but it's important
Medal of Honor recipients don't "win" the medal, they receive it, therefore they are recipients. Mr Giggles gets irritated when I say MoH winner and always corrects me when I do.
Spike all you have to do is read the stories of our very young Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy people to answer your question.
Also the students at Parkland that were killed trying to help others.
That is true Trout...Also it's not the Congressional MoH...Congress has nothing to do with it.
As a career military guy and civil service employee for almost 40 years now, I know. Now that we've slpit that hair..........
True, but those are volunteers, in WWII, the vast majority of people in services were draftees. If the draft every was required again, I'mnot sure we could generate the same level of excellence as America's Greatest Generation.
sorry
Hopefully we'll never have to find out Spike.
I am a beliver that no matter the circumstances, young Americans will rise to the occassion.
Don't sell young Americans short. My son is not unique in that he will do what is asked of him. I have every confidence that if young people are called up tomorrow to defend their country, they'll do it. Yes, they will bitch and moan, but didn't young men bitch and moan when they were drafted decades ago?
I truly hope you guys (gals) are right.
One uncle of mine went was in the Battle of Anzio and another survived the Battle of the Bulge. Both of them refused to talk about their experiences. Learning about the WWII later in life I can understand why. These men, and the many women who served, were indeed of a greater generation than we can claim today.
My cousin was KIA at Bastone on December 24th 1944. He was with the 101st Airborne.
Like you, most all of my family served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam.
I had a great-uncle who was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was one of my favorite people in the whole world
Two of my brother-in-laws went to Vietnam. Both of them came back physically, but the one I looked up to as a big brother came back damaged. Ate up with PTSD and refusing help. He was a gunner on a "Duster" for 18 months and when he was really drunk he said he always saw the torn ups bodies of all of the people he'd killed. Around his friends he was still the same old Rocky and one of the greatest people you could ever know, but alone he was so lost and unpredictable. He was arrested 46 times for drunk in public, distributing the peace, etc. in our small town of just 600 people. Then at 3am on September 21, 1991 he was really drunk and shooting his son's .410 in the air and was surrounded by Michigan State Police and Allegan County Deputies. They said he lowered the gun at them and they opened fire. They fired 32 round and hit him 19 times. Even with that Rocky still survived the life flight to the trauma center and died in surgery. He was only 41. It really wasn't until afterwards that we found out that he had a chest full of medals that he'd never talked about. I can only guess, since I was one of the people so close to him, that he figured the medals didn't make up for what he'd done to be awarded them.
Way to many suffered the same fate Randy...The war never really ended, it just keeps showing up.
I am sorry I keep bringing it up out of context Kavika. I just think of war and heroes and Rocky was like really, really close, like my brother and it just comes out. I'll restrain it in the future. I was drunk and it didn't fit in this thread.
No problem Randy, you can bring it up anytime that you want on my articles.
What an awesome story, Kavika! thanks for sharing it with us
The story seemed fitting since the blow up about questioning a persons military service.
BTW, on a related subject, I watched 'Chain of Command' on Natgeo channel. It was extremely interesting and gave a good telling of why we are where we are and why we need to be there. It was well done, with zero actors. Cast was led by the Chairman of the JCS and drilled down tot he groundpounder level. Should be required viewing before people are allowed to comment on the war on terror, which has many faces on several continents.
I saw that as well, Spike...Outstanding documentary.
That is a very heartwarming story. Thanks for posting.
It was a pleasure to post Peter.
Beautiful piece of work Kavika. Thanks for finding it.
Thanks Galen.