Wilburn K. Ross, 94; Medal of Honor recipient in WWII

Retired Master Sgt. Wilburn K. Ross, an Army machinegunner who received the Medal of Honor for singlehandedly fighting back eight German counterattacks during a World War II battle in France, died May 9 in Washington state. He was 94.

His death was announced by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. The cause was not disclosed.

Sgt. Ross — then a private — served in the Army's storied 3rd Infantry Division during World War II and saw combat in Morocco and Italy, where he was wounded by shrapnel in 1943. A year later, his unit had pushed on to eastern France, where it encountered elite German alpine troops in the Vosges Mountains.