Canada: For Valor

Stocky Charles A. MacGillivary, 27, is a Canadian by birth, a U.S. citizen by choice. He migrated to Boston in 1934 from his native Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where his parents still live. He “just worked around” until war came, joined the Merchant Marine, later enlisted in the U.S. Army.

In the pre-dawn of last New Year’s Day he was with the U.S. 71st Infantry Regiment of the 44th Division in Western Europe, when the regiment’s advance was stopped by machine-gun fire. MacGillivary crept through deep snow to within three feet of an enemy position, shot the two Germans who manned it. The path was clear. Several hours later, six more German machine-gunnists blocked the 71st’s advance. Again Sergeant MacGillivary went out alone. He got two German crews with grenades, a third with a submachine gun, before he was knocked out of action.

Last week at the White House in Washington (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS), modest Sergeant MacGillivary became the only native Canadian in World War II to get a Congressional Medal of Honor. Then he headed for Boston. There he aimed to marry Esther Manning (who has agreed) and to find a job which he can handle with his new artificial arm.