GRAINGER COUNTY

Medal of Honor recipients Charles Coolidge, Paul Huff, Charlie Morris, Vernon McGarity and Charles McGaha
PHOTO: MedalofHonor.com
County Seat: Rutledge
Tennessee had seven Congressional Medal of Honor recipients during World War II. One of them was Charles McGaha of Grainger County. McGaha was fighting in the Philippines and crossed a road under a hail of bullets to save an injured comrade. Injured himself, he returned to his men, then removed another wounded soldier. Then he carried a third man to safety, and finally collapsed from loss of blood and exhaustion.

The story doesn't end there. Charles McGaha survived the war but was tragically stabbed to death in a taxi cab in Columbus, Georgia in 1984. Today there is a small section of road in Columbus named for this Tennessee hero.

For more on Tennessee's other World War II Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, click here.
The Grainger County Courthouse
Grainger County is also the only county in Tennessee named for a woman. Mary Grainger Blount was the wife of William Blount, who was governor of the Tennessee territory (before Tennessee became a state, it was a territory).

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