Ernest William Prussman

Medal of Honor Hero of the 13th Infantry Regiment

Ernest William Prussman had only a few seconds to decide whether to seek cover or attack. He chose to attack. On September 8, 1944, under devastating German mortar, machine gun, sniper, and rifle fire in Brittany, France, the 22-year-old U.S. Army infantryman led his squad directly against a fortified enemy position. Before the action was over, Prussman had disarmed enemy soldiers, destroyed a machine gun position, captured several Germans, and continued fighting even after receiving the wound that would take his life. His final assault earned him the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military decoration for valor.

Private First Class Ernest William Prussman was born on September 15, 1921, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Herbert and Helen Prussman. He had a twin brother, Earl, and two other brothers, Calvin and Henry, who would also serve during World War II. When Ernest was five, the family moved to Brighton, Massachusetts, where he grew up and attended school. After graduating from Brighton High School, he worked as a chain store clerk before entering the U.S. Army in October 1942.

Prussman eventually served as a Private First Class with the 13th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, one of the American infantry formations committed to the campaign in northwest Europe. His regiment arrived in France in July 1944, as Allied forces were expanding their foothold following the Normandy landings and driving into occupied France. Within two months, Prussman would take part in the bitter fighting in Brittany associated with the advance on Brest.

On September 8, 1944, near Les Coates in Brittany, the advance of elements of two American battalions was stopped by concentrated enemy fire from a fortified position. Instead of waiting for another unit to break the deadlock, Prussman maneuvered his squad toward the German defenses. He vaulted a hedgerow and encountered two enemy riflemen, whom he disarmed. He then led his men across an exposed field toward another hedgerow and pressed forward against a machine gun position. The official U.S. Army Medal of Honor citation records that he destroyed the machine gun and captured its crew along with two additional riflemen.

Prussman still did not stop. Again moving ahead of his squad, he continued the assault until an enemy rifleman mortally wounded him. Even as he fell, he managed to throw a hand grenade that killed the soldier who had shot him. The Army concluded that Prussman's leadership and sacrifice so demoralized the enemy that resistance at that position collapsed, allowing the two battalions to continue their advance. His Medal of Honor citation described his conduct as conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.

Prussman's Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously under War Department General Orders No. 31, dated April 17, 1945. Two days later, on April 19, his parents and his twin brother Earl attended a ceremony in Boston where Major General Sherman A. Miles presented the Medal of Honor to the family on Ernest's behalf. The French government also honored Prussman's battlefield heroism with the Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 with Bronze Star, providing international recognition of the same extraordinary combat action.

His wartime honours also reflect the broader service that brought him to that final battlefield. His reconstructed ribbon entitlement includes the Purple Heart for his mortal combat wound, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze campaign stars for the Normandy and Northern France campaigns, and the World War II Victory Medal. Historical award listings also credit Prussman with the Bronze Star Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, and American Campaign Medal, although the individual primary award or service documents confirming those three awards have not yet been located in the surviving public archival material. For that reason, they should be treated as historically probable rather than given the same documentary status as his Medal of Honor and French Croix de Guerre.

What makes Ernest William Prussman's Medal of Honor story so powerful is not simply the number of enemy positions he overcame. It is the fact that, at every stage of the attack, he chose to move forward when doing so placed him in greater danger. He was not a senior officer directing the battle from behind the line. He was a young infantryman leading from the front, crossing exposed ground, attacking fortified positions, and continuing the fight after the action had already demanded more than most men could give.

Prussman never returned to Brighton. He was buried at the Brittany American Cemetery in Saint-James, France, among the American servicemen who died liberating Europe. His name has remained part of both military and local memory. Prussman Avenue at Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz in Germany carries his name, and Boston has also commemorated its World War II Medal of Honor recipient. More than eight decades after his death, the official citation still tells the essential story: when enemy fire stopped the advance, Ernest Prussman went forward.