George Peterson

Destroying three machine guns despite suffering grave wounds

George Peterson was born in Brooklyn, New York, and entered the United States Army from there. During World War II he served with Company K, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. By March 1945 he was a staff sergeant serving as an acting platoon sergeant.

Near Eisern, Germany, on 30 March 1945, his platoon was ordered to flank enemy positions while the other troops attacked from the front. A mortar shell severely wounded his legs, but he refused to withdraw. Crawling forward under fire, he destroyed two machine-gun positions with hand grenades. Shot in the arm, he continued and silenced a third position with a rifle grenade.

He was receiving treatment when he saw another soldier wounded by a mortar burst. Peterson left the aidman and crawled to help, but was fatally shot before reaching his comrade. His actions enabled his company to advance with fewer casualties. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in October 1945 and was buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.

Medal of Honor citation

He was an acting platoon sergeant with Company K, near Eisern, Germany. When his company encountered an enemy battalion and came under heavy small-arms, machine-gun, and mortar fire, the 2d Platoon was given the mission of flanking the enemy positions while the remaining units attacked frontally. S/Sgt. Peterson crept and crawled to a position in the lead and motioned for the 2d Platoon to follow. A mortar shell fell close by and severely wounded him in the legs, but, although bleeding and suffering intense pain, he refused to withdraw and continued forward. Two hostile machine guns went into action at close range. Braving this grazing fire, he crawled steadily toward the guns and worked his way alone to a shallow draw, where, despite the hail of bullets, he raised himself to his knees and threw a grenade into the nearest machine-gun nest, silencing the weapon and killing or wounding all its crew. The second gun was immediately turned on him, but he calmly and deliberately threw a second grenade which rocked the position and killed all four Germans who occupied it. As he continued forward he was spotted by an enemy rifleman, who shot him in the arm. Undeterred, he crawled some 20 yards until a third machine gun opened fire on him. By almost superhuman effort, weak from loss of blood and suffering great pain, he again raised himself to his knees and fired a grenade from his rifle, killing three of the enemy guncrew and causing the remaining one to flee. With the first objective seized, he was being treated by the company aidman when he observed one of his outpost men seriously wounded by a mortar burst. He wrenched himself from the hands of the aidman and began to crawl forward to assist his comrade, whom he had almost reached when he was struck and fatally wounded by an enemy bullet. S/Sgt. Peterson, by his gallant, intrepid actions, unrelenting fighting spirit, and outstanding initiative, silenced three enemy machine guns against great odds and while suffering from severe wounds, enabling his company to advance with minimum casualties.