Robert Booker joined the US Army in June 1942 from Callaway, Nebraska, his hometown. After basic training, Private (Pvt.) Booker and the rest of the 34th Infantry Division were sent to the African Theater of combat. Nearly a year later, Booker was still on the northern coast of Africa in Tunisia when he earned the Medal of Honor.
On April 9, 1943, Pvt. Booker was carrying a machine gun and a box of ammunition across a field near Fondouk, Tunisia. Though enemy fire from two machine guns caused the dirt around his feet to jump up, Booker did not falter while covering the 200 yards to his objective. Once he reached the spot, Booker quickly set up his machine gun and began to use it on the enemies around him. Although he was wounded, this did not impede Booker’s goal, and he soon destroyed an enemy machine gun. However, as he turned to fire at the second machine gun, Booker was injured a second time, an injury that ultimately led to his death. But even the imminence of death did not distract Booker from the present. With his last breaths, he encouraged the members of his squad, and helped direct their fire. For his diligence to the cause and disregard of his own safety, Pvt. Booker was posthumously awarded the US’s highest honor, the Medal of Honor.
Booker was buried at a cemetery in his hometown.
Sources Consulted:
Army Website, Medal of Honor Recipients, WWII
The National Archives, Access to Archival Databases, Enlistment Records
