Career
He was a 1939 graduate of Northeast Catholic High School for boys. McVeigh joined the Army from his birth city of Philadelphia in September 1942, and by August 29, 1944 was serving as a Sergeant in Company H, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. During a German counterattack on that day, near Brest, France, he directed his squad"s fire and, when his position was almost overrun, single-handedly charged the Germans with his only weapon, a trench knife.
McVeigh was killed in the attack and, on April 6, 1945, posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
McVeigh, aged 22 or 23 at his death, was buried in the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. In a savage hand-to-hand struggle.