List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II

The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces. The recipient must have distinguished themselves at the risk of their own life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy of the United States. Due to the nature of this medal, it is commonly presented posthumously.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global military conflict, the joining of what had initially been two separate conflicts. The first began in Asia in 1937 as the Second Sino-Japanese War; the other began in Europe in 1939 with the German and Soviet invasion of Poland. This global conflict split the majority of the world's nations into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers.

The United States, and its military, was drawn into World War II on December 7, 1941, when Axis-member Japan launched the Attack on Pearl Harbor and European territories in the Pacific Ocean.

During this war 464 United States military personnel received the Medal of Honor, 266 (57.3%) of them posthumously. Seventeen of these were Japanese-Americans fighting in both Europe and the Pacific, many of which were upgraded from DSCs during the Clinton administration. Additionally, the only recipient for the United States Coast Guard received the Medal for his actions during this war.

The earliest action for which a US serviceman earned a World War II Medal of Honor was the December 7, 1941, Attack on Pearl Harbor, for which seventeen US servicemen were awarded a Medal. The last action to earn a Medal of Honor prior to the August 15, 1945, end of hostilities in World War II, were those of Melvin Mayfield, on July 29, 1945 – though some honorees may have been cited for their Medal after Mayfield's recognition on May 31, 1946.

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N.B. A in the citation indicates that the award was given posthumously.