John Noah Reese, Jr. of Muskogee, Oklahoma, a Private First Class in the U.S. Army, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on February 9, 1945, near Manila, the Philippines.

Reese joined the army in December 1942, and by February 9, 1945 was serving as a private first class in Company B, 148th infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division.

On February 9, 1945, during an attack on the Paco Railroad Station in Manila, the Philippines, Reese and fellow soldier Private Cleto L. Rodriguez went ahead of their unit, took a position closer to the station, and began firing on the Japanese defenders.

Together they killed over eighty Japanese soldiers before a shortage of ammunition forced them to turn back. Reese was killed while trying to return to American lines. He was just 21 years old.

He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on February 9, 1945. He is buried in Fort Gibson National Cemetery, Fort Gibson, Oklahoma.