World War II · Medal of Honor
First Lieutenant, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, U.S. Army
ACTION: JUNE 6, 1944 — OMAHA BEACH, NEAR COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, FRANCE
His Story
Jimmie Waters Monteith Jr. was born in Low Moor, Virginia, on July 1, 1917, the youngest of three children. The family moved to Richmond when he was nine. At Thomas Jefferson High School his friends called him Punk; he played a year each of varsity football and basketball, and graduated in 1937. He spent two years at VPI, now Virginia Tech, studying mechanical engineering, then left in 1939 to work for the Cabell Coal Company. The Army drafted him in October 1941.
He joined the 1st Infantry Division, the Big Red One, in Tunisia in 1943, went into Company L of the 16th Infantry, and was promoted to first lieutenant in Sicily that September. On the morning of June 6, 1944, he came ashore with the company in the first assault wave at Omaha Beach.
Omaha was the worst of the five beaches. Under machine-gun and shell fire, Monteith gathered his men, blew the barbed wire open with a Bangalore torpedo, and led them through two minefields to the cover of the cliff. Then he went back down. Two tanks sat buttoned up and blind on the sand. Monteith walked through the fire, banged on their hulls for the crews' attention, and led them on foot through a minefield into firing positions, where they knocked out a pillbox. He rejoined his men, took a position on the hill, and held it, crossing two and three hundred yards of open ground under fire to keep the line together. When the Germans surrounded the position, Monteith was killed leading the fight out. He was twenty-six.
His corps, army, and army group commanders had all endorsed him for the Distinguished Service Cross. Walter Bedell Smith forwarded the recommendation to Eisenhower, who wrote back "This man was good" and pushed for the Medal of Honor instead. His mother received it at her home in Richmond the following March.
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on 6 June 1944, near Colleville-sur-Mer, France. First Lt. Monteith landed with the initial assault waves on the coast of France under heavy enemy fire. Without regard to his own personal safety he continually moved up and down the beach reorganizing men for further assault. He then led the assault over a narrow protective ledge and across the flat, exposed terrain to the comparative safety of a cliff. Retracing his steps across the field to the beach, he moved over to where two tanks were buttoned up and blind under violent enemy artillery and machine-gun fire. Completely exposed to the intense fire, 1st Lt. Monteith led the tanks on foot through a minefield and into firing positions. Under his direction several enemy positions were destroyed. He then rejoined his company and under his leadership his men captured an advantageous position on the hill. Supervising the defense of his newly won position against repeated vicious counterattacks, he continued to ignore his own personal safety, repeatedly crossing the 200 or 300 yards of open terrain under heavy fire to strengthen links in his defensive chain. When the enemy succeeded in completely surrounding 1st Lt. Monteith and his unit and while leading the fight out of the situation, 1st Lt. Monteith was killed by enemy fire. The courage, gallantry, and intrepid leadership displayed by 1st Lt. Monteith is worthy of emulation.
— Medal of Honor citation, awarded posthumously
His Legacy Today
Monteith is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery, on the bluff above the beach where he died.
Monumental Honor was founded to share his story. In January 2024, volunteers cleaned and restored his memorial at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Richmond, and the organization has since connected with the Monteith family to add to the historical record. Monumental Honor works with Thomas Jefferson High School, his alma mater, to keep his story alive where it began.
In March 2024 the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford dedicated a plaque to him, the first in its Medal of Honor Garden. His Medal is held at the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Museum, and the university's Special Collections keeps the letters he wrote home. A Virginia Tech residence hall carried his name until it was demolished in 2017. An amphitheater at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and an Army camp near Gnjilane, Kosovo, were named for him. He is one of four recipients in our mural at 1903 W. Main Street.
Learn more:Official record at the Congressional Medal of Honor Society
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