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Medal of Honor Recipient

Dirk John Cornelius Vlug

U.S. Army · World War II

MOH-RC-000269Source-based record

The award

Representative medal image: Army design with a neck ribbon. Not a portrait or a photograph of this recipient’s own medal.
Army Medal of HonorRecorded presentation: 1946

Portrait not yet available. Representative medal shown.

About this image

Representative form selected from the recorded presentation year (1946), not authenticated medal-object provenance.

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Medal of Honor

1944-12-15

near Limon, Leyte, Philippine Islands

Rank at action
Private First Class
Service
U.S. Army
Conflict
World War II
Unit or command
Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 126th Infantry, 32d Infantry Division
Presentation date
June 26, 1946

The Citation

Sources ↓
He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty when an American roadblock on the Ormoc Road was attacked by a group of enemy tanks. He left his covered position, and with a rocket launcher and 6 rounds of ammunition, advanced alone under intense machinegun and 37-mm. fire. Loading single-handedly, he destroyed the first tank, killing its occupants with a single round. As the crew of the second tank started to dismount and attack him, he killed 1 of the foe with his pistol, forcing the survivors to return to their vehicle, which he then destroyed with a second round. Three more hostile tanks moved up the road, so he flanked the first and eliminated it, and then, despite a hail of enemy fire, pressed forward again to destroy another. With his last round of ammunition he struck the remaining vehicle, causing it to crash down a steep embankment. Through his sustained heroism in the face of superior forces, Pfc. Vlug alone destroyed 5 enemy tanks and greatly facilitated successful accomplishment of his battalion's mission.

Sources & record notes

General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.

  1. Dirk John Cornelius Vlug — current recipient profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-25

    current identity, service, rank, unit, action metadata, and recipient-profile citation match

Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
Award ID
MOH-AW-000272
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-08-25
Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
60
Entered service at
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Archive transcription SHA-256
ce67dd1842f5046204352e2dd10bea02eab4285b83d6b33b56d44022550662be

Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; current rendered-profile variants and editorial normalizations are documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.

The rendered profile heading uses a lowercase “cornelius.” The canonical display name normalizes capitalization to Dirk John Cornelius Vlug while retaining the rendered form in the evidence notes; Private First Class at action and later Master Sergeant (MIANG) remain separate. Legacy full citation text and row provenance retained; General Order comparison remains pending.