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Category: Medal of Honor - Stories of the most decorated Heroes  -- See latest WWII news here.

43 Medal of Honor recipients gather
Nicholas Oresko was one of 43 Medal of Honor winners who attended a gala dinner and ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley. At 91, Oresko was one of the oldest living medal recipients attending. In Jan. 1945 he was serving as an Army master sergeant with Company C at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II near Tettington, Nazi Germany. His unit was attacked by enemy fire, but despite being struck by bullets himself, he killed 12 Germans with an attack on 2 bunkers. "Our job was to push the Germans back. After the second machine gun knocked me down, I knew I was going to die, so I was going to go all out."     [ venturacountystar :: 2008-02-12 :: Medal of Honor - Stories of the most decorated Heroes ]

Restoration giving Chattanooga's Medal of Honor Museum an overhaul
Chattanooga's Medal of Honor Museum's collection was badly damaged by water and mold in it's former storage facility. But, now those damaged items are being salvaged. World War II veteran Roberta McDevitt: "Handling these things brings back certain memories, some of them good, some of them bad." Thanks to numerous volunteer hours 250,000-300,000 items are being preserved one piece at a time. Director Patti Parks says through a pain-staking process 5% of the items have been cleaned and archived, so far. The collection includes over 700 military uniforms, hundreds of medals, photos and personal items.     [ wdef :: 2008-01-30 :: Medal of Honor - Stories of the most decorated Heroes ]

WWII Medal of Honor winner shares his story - 100th Infantry Division
Only 32 Medal of Honor recipients are still alive. One of them is infantry soldier Mike Colalillo, who earned the medal during the last days of WW2. On April 7, 1945 his unit came under heavy fire, bullets and shells were flying all over. "We were all pinned down, we couldn't move. If you get up we'd get shot at. We lost a lot of men there... I jumped on the tank, and just hollered in the tank and told, 'I lost my gun and I'm going to use your machine gun on the top.' And that's when I started shooting all these positions where the Germans were." Out in the open on top of the battle tank, Colalillo rode into battle, firing the machine gun mounted on the turret.     [ publicradio :: 2008-01-29 :: Legends & Heroes of World War II ]

Jefferson DeBlanc, World War II fighter pilot with Medal of Honor
Jefferson J. DeBlanc, a WWII ace who was awarded the Medal of Honor for shooting down 5 Japanese planes on a single day while running out of fuel, died at 86. On Jan. 31, 1943, DeBlanc took off from Guadalcanal in Wildcat fighter, leading a 6-plane section of Marine Fighting Squadron 112. They were tasked to protect dive bombers attacking Japanese ships near Kolombangara. He became dragged in a fierce air battle, and his fighter was using fuel at a rapid rate and he could have returned to his base, but he continued his attacks: "We needed all the guns we could get up there to escort those dive bombers... I figured I could survive a bailout."     [ washingtonpost :: 2007-12-05 :: Medal of Honor - Stories of the most decorated Heroes ]

Silvestre Herrera: Mexico-born Medal of Honor winner, dies at 90
Silvestre Herrera, the first Arizonan to win the Medal of Honor award during World War II, also had Mexico's highest honor for valor (the Premier Merito Militar), making him the only person to earn both. In 1945 he was granted the Medal of Honor for saving his platoon from machine-gun fire. The Army private first class with the 36th Infantry Division took out one emplacement, then charged through a minefield toward a second, losing both feet to explosions. The eight Germans manning the machine-gun nest threw down their weapons. "I was one of the lucky ones, to live to be awarded the Medal of Honor."     [ azcentral :: 2007-11-28 :: Medal of Honor - Stories of the most decorated Heroes ]

Medal of Honor hero held off hundreds of Germans single-handedly
World War II veteran Charles P. Murray held off hundreds of Germans single-handedly for over 6 hours. Then Army Lieutenant, he had only been company commander for 8 days. "It was the last area of France west of the Rhine river that was still in the hands of the Germans." Murray was leading his troops through the mountains when his lookout spotted something. "Then my radio went dead - cold, wet probably. I had no spare batteries." With no way to call for heavy artillery from the rear and fearing the Germans would annihilate his company, he ordered his fellow soldiers to scatter and he hunkered down. "I borrowed a rifle and some blank cartridges for the rifle..."     [ wistv :: 2007-11-07 :: Medal of Honor - Stories of the most decorated Heroes ]

Matt L. Urban: tied with Audie Murphy for the most decorations in WWII
World War II hero Audie Murphy got his own U.S. stamp. Buffalo's most decorated war veteran Matt L. Urban should get a stamp too, say organizers of a petition drive. The Polish American Congress argues that Urban and Murphy - both U.S. Army veterans from WWII - are the two most decorated veterans from that war. Murphy's face was put on a stamp, and the group wants Urban to receive the same honor. As a lieutenant colonel in charge of an infantry battalion, Urban was shot 7 times, once in the throat. He was credited with killing 116 German soldiers from machine gun nest in one day. Urban received the Medal of Honor for several times risking his life beyond the call of duty.     [ hnn.us :: 2007-10-15 :: WWII Medals & Most decorated Soldiers ]

Medal of Honor hero Pfc. John Reese sacrificed himself for comrades
Pfc. John N. Reese Jr was killed during a 2-man attack on more than 300 heavily armed and entrenched enemy soldiers in a 2-1/2-hour World War II battle for a Manila railroad station. He was hit by a sniper's bullet while reloading his rifle as he and Pfc. Cleto Rodriguez were crawling toward the American lines for more ammunition. Reese provided covering fire as his companion crawled away. "The intrepid team, in 2-1/2 hours of fierce fighting, killed more than 82 Japanese, disorganized their defense and paved the way for subsequent defeat of the enemy at this strong point," according to the citation awarding Reese the Medal of Honor.     [ tulsaworld :: 2007-10-04 :: Legends & Heroes of World War II ]

Medal of Honor for 82nd Airborne Division officer James Megellas
No officer in the history of the 82nd Airborne Division is believed to be as highly decorated as James Megellas - a Distinguished Service Cross, 2 Silver Stars, 2 Bronze Stars for valor and 2 Purple Hearts. But the men who served with him believe that even those medals don't tell the story of his exploits. There, at the top should hang a Medal of Honor. Toward the end of the Battle of the Bulge, Lt. Megellas' platoon had surprised 200 Germans. His men decimated the Germans' ranks and were preparing to attack the town when a German Mark V Panther battle tank took aim at them. He ran toward the tank, got close enough to throw a grenade at the track and disabled it.     [ star-telegram :: 2007-02-14 :: Medal of Honor - Stories of the most decorated Heroes ]

Combat hero Dietz : Sherman tanks and panzerfaust squads
Elements of the 38th Infantry Battalion, spearheading the 7th Armored Division, approached the town of Kirchain. GI Jankowski in Dietz's 12-man squad was aboard the third Sherman tank in a line when a German soldier "stood up and fired a bazooka at the lead tank. We all scrambled off the tanks. Then I saw Dietz running and firing into the foxholes. He was grabbing the mines and throwing them off the bridge. As he stood up to signal that the route was clear he was killed by an shot from the left flank." Medal of Honor citation credits Dietz with wiping out 3 two-man panzerfaust (bazooka) squads and leaping into the water to disconnect explosives wired to the bridge.     [ zwire :: 2006-05-29 :: Panzers & Armored Divisions & Tank War ]

FBI agent: Medal of Honor impostors outnumber recipients
The Congressional Medal of Honor Society reports there are 113 living recipients of the nation's highest military award, but an F-B-I agent says impostors outnumber the true heroes. Agent Tom Cottone says there are more and more of the impostors, and they are literally stealing the valor and acts of valor of the real guys. Some fakers merely brag about receiving the award - and that's not illegal - but some impostors wear military uniforms and bogus medals.     [ ap :: 2006-04-30 :: Medal of Honor - Stories of the most decorated Heroes ]

The only Medal of Honor recipient who refused to carry a weapon
The only conscientious objector to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor as a noncombatant in WWII has died. Desmond Doss Senior refused to carry a weapon during his wartime service as a medic. He was the subject of a 2004 documentary, "The Conscientious Objector," and a previously published book, "The Unlikeliest Hero. In 1945, Doss was invited to the White House to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Harry Truman for his bravery on May 5th, 1945. The 24-year-old medic stayed atop a cliff on the island of Okinawa, lowering down soldiers under Japanese attack.     [ outsidethebeltway :: 2006-03-25 :: Different wartime experiences ]

The only Filipino soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor
During WWII, the only Filipino soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor was Sgt. Jose Calugas. His award reads: "For conspicuous gallantry and interpidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy at Culis, Bataan Province, Philippine Islands. When the battery gun position was shelled and bombed until one piece was out of action and casualties caused the removal of the remaining canoneers to shelter, Sergeant Calugas, voluntarily and on his own accord proceeded 1,000 yards across the shell-swept area to the gun position and joined the volunteer gun squad which fired effectively on the enemy."     [ thenewstoday :: 2006-03-11 :: Pacific War - Allied powers ]

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