Van T. Barfoot

Van Thomas Barfoot (born Van Thurman Barfoot; June 15, 1919 – March 2, 2012) was a United States Army officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in World War II.

Early life Barfoot was born on June 15, 1919, in Edinburg, Mississippi. His parents were Simon and Martha Barfoot. His maternal grandmother was Choctaw, but Barfoot himself was not a citizen of any Choctaw tribe; although he was eligible to become an enrolled citizen of a Choctaw tribe, his parents never did so.

Military career After enlisting in the Army from Carthage, Mississippi, in 1940 and completing his training, Barfoot served with the 1st Infantry Division in Louisiana and Puerto Rico. In December 1941, he was promoted to sergeant and reassigned to the Headquarters Amphibious Force Atlantic Fleet in Quantico, Virginia, where he served until the unit was deactivated in 1943. He next joined the 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division ("Thunderbird"), and was shipped to Europe.

Post-World War II

Having grown up in the strictly segregated south, Barfoot was noted for a comment he made in 1945 regarding African-Americans. Democrat Mississippi senator and Ku Klux Klan member Theodore G. Bilbo asked Barfoot if he had much trouble with the African-American soldiers he had served with during the war. To Bilbo's embarrassment, Barfoot responded, "I found out after I did some fighting in this war that the colored boys fight just as good as the white boys...I've changed my idea a lot about colored people since I got into this war and so have a lot of other boys from the south".

Barfoot later served in the Korean War and Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, he served as a deputy aviation officer and flew over 177 combat hours. He reached the rank of colonel before retiring from the Army in 1974. In retirement, he lived on a farm in Amelia County, Virginia, and later moved to Henrico County, Virginia, near his daughter.

Flagpole dispute In December 2009, the homeowners' association (HOA) of the Sussex Square, where Barfoot lived in Henrico County, Virginia, ordered him to remove the flagpole he had erected without their approval and from which he began flying the US flag regularly on Veterans Day. The HOA retained the Coates & Davenport law firm to threaten legal action to enforce their order. This news story first became public when Barfoot's son-in-law reported the story on local talk radio show Elliot in the Morning. Then Fox News and several other news networks picked up the story nationally. The association's bylaws do not forbid flagpoles, but the HOA ruled Barfoot, then aged 90, would not be allowed to use it "for aesthetic reasons." Barfoot contested their order, and received support from the public (48,000 people on a Facebook page), from the American Legion, from military groups, and from many politicians, including Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb, and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Because of the backlash and outrage it received, the association dropped its request on December 8, 2009, ending the controversy within one week.

Barfoot suffered a skull fracture and bleeding in the brain due to a bad fall in front of his home, and died two days later on March 2, 2012, at the age of 92.

Honors alt=A metal device depicting a blue bar with a rifle, in front of a wreath of silver leaves.

Combat Infantryman BadgeArmy Aviator BadgeMedal of HonorSilver StarLegion of Meritwith bronze oak leaf clusterBronze Star Purple Heartwith two bronze oak leaf clustersMeritorious Service MedalAir Medalwith two bronze oak leaf clustersArmy Commendation Medalwith bronze oak leaf clusterArmy Good Conduct MedalAmerican Defense Service MedalAmerican Campaign MedalEuropean–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medalwith arrowhead device and silver campaign starWorld War II Victory MedalArmy of Occupation Medalwith 'Germany' claspNational Defense Service Medalwith service starVietnam Service Medalwith two bronze campaign stars Vietnam Campaign MedalItalian Medal of Military ValorVietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal(1st Class) On October 9, 2009, the portion of Mississippi Highway 16 which runs from Carthage through his hometown of Edinburg to the border between Leake and Neshoba counties was named the Van T. Barfoot Medal of Honor Highway. A building at Richmond Veterans Administration Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, also carries his name. In May 2022, The Naming Commission recommended that Fort Pickett in Blackstone, Virginia be renamed Fort Barfoot, as part of a larger program of renaming installations named for Confederate Army leaders. The change was made official on March 24, 2023.