America established the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1861, shortly after the first shots of the Civil War, as the highest military decoration presented by the U.S. Government for extraordinary valor and sacrifice. Three recipients are memorialized at the City of Lubbock Cemetery. In 1891, Sgt. Joseph F. Knight led a bold rescue of a cavalry company surrounded by hostile Sioux warriors, led the attack that caused the warriors to retreat, and ultimately saved the lives of the cavalry troopers. In 1945, PFC. Herman C. Wallace was clearing a road when he stepped on a German anti-personnel mine; diving for the ground would have caused the mine to kill those around him, so he put both feet on the mine, confined the explosion, sacrificed his life, and saved a number of his comrades from death and injury. Major George A Davis, a decorated WWII ace fighter pilot who also served in the Korean War, in 1952 attacked 12 enemy aircraft to protect exposed allied support aircraft, brought down two enemy planes, protected the ground support airplanes, and died when his own airplane succumbed to enemy fire.