WWII · Battle Death Record
Ruben Rivers
Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army · Oklahoma
Medal of Honor
Personnel File — Core Information
- Name
- Ruben Rivers
- Entered the Service From
- Oklahoma
- Rank
- Staff Sergeant
- Service
- U.S. Army
- Unit / Regiment
- Company A, 761st Tank Battalion
- War
- WWII
- Date of Death
- November 19, 1944
- Awards
- Medal of Honor, Silver Star, Purple Heart
- Burial / Memorial
- Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial, Saint-Avold, France
- Grave
- Plot C, Row 5, Grave 53
Their story
Staff Sergeant Ruben Rivers displayed extraordinary heroism from November 16 to 19, 1944, near Guebling and Bourgaltroff, France, where after his tank struck a mine and badly wounded his leg he refused evacuation and continued to lead his platoon in combat. On November 19, 1944, he directed fire against German tanks to cover his company's withdrawal and was killed when his tank was struck by enemy fire. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 1997.
Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.
This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.