TRACKPADS Armored in facts. Driven by stories.

The Trackpads collection

FIND YOUR NEXT DISCOVERY.

Search the people, battles, citations, stories, books and audio behind military history.

Type at least two letters or numbers.Full search & filters

Medal of Honor Recipient

William Frishe Dean Sr.

U.S. Army · Korean War

MOH-RC-002281Source-based record

The award

Representative medal image: Army design with a neck ribbon. Not a portrait or a photograph of this recipient’s own medal.
Army Medal of HonorRecorded presentation: 1951

Portrait not yet available. Representative medal shown.

About this image

Representative form selected from the recorded presentation year (1951), not authenticated medal-object provenance.

Medal imagery and historical designs →

Medal of Honor

July 20, 1950

Taejon, Korea

Rank at action
Major General
Service
U.S. Army
Conflict
Korean War
Unit or command
24th Infantry Division
Presentation date
February 16, 1951

The Citation

Sources ↓
Maj. Gen. Dean distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the repeated risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. In command of a unit suddenly relieved from occupation duties in Japan and as yet untried in combat, faced with a ruthless and determined enemy, highly trained and overwhelmingly superior in numbers, he felt it his duty to take action which to a man of his military experience and knowledge was clearly apt to result in his death. He personally and alone attacked an enemy tank while armed only with a hand grenade. He also directed the fire of his tanks from an exposed position with neither cover nor concealment while under observed artillery and small-arm fire. When the town of Taejon was finally overrun he refused to insure his own safety by leaving with the leading elements but remained behind organizing his retreating forces, directing stragglers, and was last seen assisting the wounded to a place of safety. These actions indicate that Maj. Gen. Dean felt it necessary to sustain the courage and resolution of his troops by examples of excessive gallantry committed always at the threatened portions of his frontlines. The magnificent response of his unit to this willing and cheerful sacrifice, made with full knowledge of its certain cost, is history. The success of this phase of the campaign is in large measure due to Maj. Gen. Dean's heroic leadership, courageous and loyal devotion to his men, and his complete disregard for personal safety.

Sources & record notes

General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.

  1. William Frishe Dean Sr. — current Society profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-30

    current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison

Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
Award ID
MOH-AW-002292
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-08-30
Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
7
Entered service at
California
Archive transcription SHA-256
128860b3dace3452ff08dc1a2fd983d19404a1d25b0aff6c84ba738dfb8b4a16

Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; rendered current reference profile variants documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.

The inherited rank-1 Society candidate was confirmed by substantive comparison of identity, service, rank, unit or command, action context, and citation; candidate rank or successful rendering alone was not treated as verification. The current authoritative source expands or normalizes the inherited name from William F. Dean to William Frishe Dean Sr.; both renderings remain preserved. The exact current profile heading is William Frishe Dean Sr; the controlled display name is William Frishe Dean Sr., and both forms remain preserved. The controlled canonical unit or command is 24th Infantry Division; the current structured profile renders 24th Infantry Division, and the inherited wording 24th Infantry Division remains preserved as a separately attributed variant. The current authoritative evidence controls the action date as 1950-07-20 and classifies the action under Korean War; the inherited unnormalized date and conflict values remain preserved in the audit record. The controlled historical action place is Taejon, Korea; the current structured place Taejon, Korea and the complete inherited geocoder value Daejeon, South Korea remain preserved in the audit evidence. The inherited full citation remains canonical and checksum-protected; current rendered wording is preserved separately where transcribed. No underlying General Order was examined, so the exact-order gate remains pending and no General Order verification is claimed.

Continue Across Trackpads

FOLLOW THE SUBJECT.