Gerry Herman Kisters

Capturing a second machine gun despite five wounds in Sicily

Gerry Herman Kisters was born on March 3, 1919, in Salt Lake City, Utah. His family moved to Indiana, where his father operated a fur business. Kisters also worked in the fur trade before Army service.

During World War II he served with the 91st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron in North Africa and Sicily. In May 1943, in Tunisia, he advanced under fire and attacked a German artillery position with grenades and rifle fire, earning the Distinguished Service Cross.

On July 31, 1943, near Gagliano, Sicily, Sergeant Kisters and an officer captured an enemy machine-gun position while their detachment was working to clear a blocked vehicle route. He then advanced alone toward a second gun. Although wounded five times in his legs and right arm, he continued forward, killed three defenders and forced another to flee.

After returning to the United States, Kisters recovered from his wounds and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented his Medal of Honor at the White House on February 8, 1944. He ultimately held the rank of first lieutenant.

After the war, Kisters returned to Bloomington and operated Kisters' Furs. He and his wife, Nola, also ran a licensed day-care home. He died in Bloomington on May 11, 1986, and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery.

Medal of Honor Citation

On 31 July 1943, near Gagliano, Sicily, a detachment of one officer and nine enlisted men, including Sgt. Kisters, advancing ahead of the leading elements of U.S. troops to fill a large crater in the only available vehicle route through Gagliano, was taken under fire by two enemy machine guns. Sgt. Kisters and the officer, unaided and in the face of intense small-arms fire, advanced on the nearest machine-gun emplacement and succeeded in capturing the gun and its crew of four.

Although the greater part of the remaining small-arms fire was now directed on the captured machine-gun position, Sgt. Kisters voluntarily advanced alone toward the second gun emplacement. While creeping forward, he was struck five times by enemy bullets, receiving wounds in both legs and his right arm. Despite the wounds, he continued to advance on the enemy, and captured the second machine gun after killing three of its crew and forcing the fourth member to flee.

The courage of this soldier and his unhesitating willingness to sacrifice his life, if necessary, served as an inspiration to the command.