Anthony L. Krotiak

He pinned a grenade and gave his life for his four comrades.

Anthony L. Krotiak, recorded as Anton L. Krotiak by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, was born in Chicago on 15 August 1915. He entered the United States Army in November 1941 and served in the Pacific during the Second World War. By May 1945 he was a private first class in Company I, 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division.

On 8 May 1945, near Balete Pass on Luzon, he was acting squad leader while his men consolidated a captured position on Hill B. Japanese fire and grenades forced him and four other soldiers into an abandoned trench. A grenade landed in their midst.

Krotiak immediately pushed his comrades away, forced the grenade against the ground with his rifle butt and covered it himself. The explosion mortally wounded him, and he died minutes later. His action protected the four men beside him at the cost of his own life.

The Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously in February 1946. Krotiak was 29 when killed and is buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Alsip, Illinois.