Manuel Pérez Jr.

In 1945, Pérez was sent to the Philippines and assigned to Company A 511th Parachute Infantry, 11th Airborne Division whose mission was to take Fort William McKinley. On February 13, as the 11th Airborne Division approached the fort, it encountered a strong enemy fortified sector. The sector was composed of cement pillboxes armed with .50-caliber dual-purpose machineguns which defended the entrance to the fort.

Manuel Pérez Jr. was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on December 27, 1945.

His grave at Fairlawn Cemetery shows a date of death as March 14, 1945, a date found in the casualty list for the 511th PIR and division historian Lt. Gen. E.M. Flanagan.

Japanese forces had invaded the Philippine islands and had under its control all of the U.S. Military Installations including Fort William McKinley which was located just south of Manila the capital. Fort William McKinley was where USAFFE (United States Army Forces - Far East) had its headquarters for the Philippine Department and the Philippine Division. The bulk of the Philippine Division was stationed here and this was where, under the National Defense Act of 1935, specialized artillery training was conducted.

Private First Class Manuel Pérez Jr. (March 3, 1923 – March 14, 1945) was a United States Army soldier who posthumously received the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military decoration, for his actions in Battle of Luzon during the Philippines campaign of World War II.

Pérez was buried with full military honors at Fairlawn Cemetery which is located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The state government of Illinois honored the memory of Perez by naming a plaza located in Chicago's Little Village Square and a school after him. The Department of the Army the reserve center of the 221st Unit Army Hospital in Oklahoma City, the Manuel Perez Jr Reserve Center.