Capt. William E. Barber, USMC

A native of nearby Morgan County, Capt. William E. Barber received the Medal of Honor for heroically leading his Marine rifle company in a desperate five-day defense of a frozen mountain pass vital to the 1st Marine Division's breakout to the sea in December 1950 during the Chosin Reservoir campaign of the Korean War. Fighting in sub-zero weather against overwhelming odds, he was wounded on the first night of action but refused evacuation and remained in command of his company. President Truman presented him the Medal of Honor at the White House on August 20, 1952. A World War II veteran and former paramarine, Barber earned the Silver Star Medal and his first of two Purple Hearts as a second lieutenant at Iwo Jima, where he disregarded his own wounds and direct fire to rescue two wounded Marines from enemy territory. He also received the Legion of Merit for his service in Vietnam. Barber enrolled at what is now Morehead State University after graduating from high school but interrupted his studies to enlist in the Marines in 1940. He returned to MSU while on active duty and earned a bachelor's degree in 1964. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1970 at the rank of colonel. He died in 2002 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Morehead, Kentucky · United States