George J. Hall

He crawled through heavy fire to silence enemy machine guns.

George John Hall was a staff sergeant in Company B, 135th Infantry, 34th Infantry Division. Near Anzio, Italy, on May 23, 1944, machine-gun fire pinned down his company. He volunteered to eliminate the positions, crawling through exposed ground and using grenades to overcome two of them.

While approaching a third gun, an artillery burst severed his right leg. His actions nevertheless enabled the company to outflank the remaining position and advance. Born in Stoneham, Massachusetts, on January 9, Hall received the Medal of Honor in April 1945. He died in February 1946 and was buried in Stoneham.

Medal of Honor citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. Attacking across flat, open terrain under direct enemy observation, S/Sgt. Hall's company was pinned down by grazing fire from three enemy machine guns and harassing sniper fire. S/Sgt. Hall volunteered to eliminate these obstacles in the path of advance. Crawling along a plowed furrow through furious machine-gun fire, he made his way to a point within hand-grenade range of one of the enemy positions. He pounded the enemy with four hand grenades, and when the smoke had died away, SSgt. Hall and two dead Germans occupied the position, while four of the enemy were crawling back to our lines as prisoners. Discovering a quantity of German potato-masher grenades in the position, S/Sgt. Hall engaged the second enemy nest in a deadly exchange of grenades. Each time he exposed himself to throw a grenade the Germans fired machine-gun bursts at him. The vicious duel finally ended in S/Sgt. Hall's favor with five of the enemy surrendered and five others lay dead. Turning his attention to the third machine gun, S/Sgt. Hall left his position and crawled along a furrow, the enemy firing frantically in a effort to halt him. As he neared his final objective, an enemy artillery concentration fell on the area, and S/Sgt. Hall's right leg was severed by a shell burst. With two enemy machine guns eliminated, his company was able to flank the third and continue its advance without incurring excessive casualties. S/Sgt. Hall's fearlessness, his determined fighting spirit, and his prodigious combat skill exemplify the heroic tradition of the American infantryman.