---

Going Back ("G.B.") Chiltoskey is a full-blood Cherokee recognized by the Smithsonian and European museums as one of the world's best woodcarvers. He also spent over 25 years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers working on classified projects.


G.B. Chiltoskey is shown (left) working on the Landing Ship Tank. He made the terrain maps for the Invasions of Normandy and North Africa, helped design the Landing Ship Tank (LST), and the tank mounted portable bridge (below).


One of his last public apearances was as a Mohican Elder in the motion picture "The Last Of The Mohicans".

---

Tennessee native T/Sgt. Charles Coolidge took a handful of new recruits and directed a four-day battle against a superior German force. During the battle, Coolidge dueled two tanks with a rifle, stopped a German attack alone with only two cases of grenades, and stopped a German attempt to turn the flank of his battallion. T/Sgt. Charles Coolidge received a Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions. He is the only living Tennessee Medal of Honor recipient and now resides in Chattanooga.

---

In the Battle for Italy, Cleveland, Tennessee native Sgt. Paul Huff drew enemy fire away from a pinned unit when he charged 350 yards through an enemy mine field, silenced a machine gun nest, and used the captured weapon to draw enemy fire from another location to determine its strength. Huff's action led to 27 enemy enemy kills and 21 German Prisoners. Huff's actions earned the Bradley County native the Congressional Medal of Honor.

---

Despite suffering wounds to his face and legs, S/Sgt. Vernon McGarity rescued several wounded soldiers under fire. With a small squad of men and against superior German forces, McGarity made a stand that turned into a two-day battle. He and his men were captured when they ran out of ammunition. McGarity received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions under fire.

---

In the Philippines against 5 Japanese tanks supported by 10 machine guns and a platoon of infantry, Cocke County native M/Sgt. Charles McGaha pushed through a steel curtain of bullets to retrieve two wounded soldiers in his unit and rally his men to a new position. McGaha was shot twice in the incident and collapsed only after moving his men to safety. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions.

(Left to right) Charles Coolidge, Paul B. Huff, Charlie Morris, Vernon McGarity, Charles McGaha. Morris is the only M.O.H. Recipient not from Tennessee. Picture taken at Belle Meade Country Club. All pictures courtesy of The National Medal of Honor Museum of Military History