John R. Crews was born on March 8, 1923 in Golden, McCurtain County, Oklahoma. He was the son of Isaac Richard Crews and Adela Schwamb Crews. He served in the United States Army during World War II as a Staff Sergeant in Company F, 253rd Infantry, 63rd Infantry Division. He was awarded he CMOH for his bravery near Lobenbacherhof, Germany on April 8, 1945. His citation reads: “As his company was advancing toward the village under heavy fire, an enemy machinegun and automatic rifle with rifle support opened upon it from a hill on the right flank. Seeing that his platoon leader had been wounded by their fire, Staff Sergeant Crews, acting on his own initiative, rushed the strongpoint with two men of his platoon. Despite the fact that one of these men was killed and the other was badly wounded, he continued his advance up the hill in the face of terrific enemy fire. Storming the well-dug-in position single-handedly, he killed two of the crew of the machinegun at pointblank range with his M-1 rifle and wrested the gun from the hands of the German whom he had already wounded. He then with his rifle charged the strongly emplaced automatic rifle. Although badly wounded in the thigh by crossfire from the remaining enemy, he kept on and silenced the entire position with his accurate and deadly rifle fire. His actions so unnerved the remaining enemy soldiers that seven of them surrendered and the others fled. His heroism caused the enemy to concentrate on him and permitted the company to move forward into the village”. His Medal was awarded to him on July 20, 1948. His other awards include, the Purple Heart, Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.

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