James Montross Burt

For eight days under relentless German fire, Captain James Montross Burt refused to abandon his men, even after being wounded and watching the tanks around him destroyed. His extraordinary courage during the Battle of Aachen would earn him the Medal of Honor, America's highest military decoration, and secure his place among the distinguished heroes of the Second World War.

Born on July 18, 1917, in Hinsdale, Massachusetts, James Montross Burt graduated from Norwich University in 1939 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He received a reserve commission as a Second Lieutenant in the cavalry before beginning active military service in 1941. During World War II, he served as a tank commander with Company B, 3rd Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division, known as Hell on Wheels. His wartime service took him through North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, the Ardennes, the Rhineland and Central Europe, including the Allied advance from Omaha Beach towards Berlin.

Burt's defining moment came on October 13, 1944, near Würselen, Germany, during the campaign to capture Aachen. When American infantry encountered devastating machine-gun and mortar fire, Burt dismounted from his tank, advanced beyond the infantry positions and personally directed his tanks into effective firing positions. Although wounded in the face and neck, he continued commanding from an exposed position. The following day, he crossed ground swept by enemy fire to assist a seriously wounded infantry battalion commander. He subsequently took his tank deep into enemy territory to direct friendly artillery fire and conducted further dangerous reconnaissance missions. For eight days, despite continuous shelling, appalling weather and the destruction of two tanks in which he had been riding, Burt maintained control of the combined force, rescued wounded comrades and continued the attack. His leadership helped close the Aachen gap.

For this extraordinary action, Burt received the Medal of Honor under War Department General Orders No. 95, dated October 30, 1945. President Harry S. Truman personally presented the medal to him at the White House on October 12, 1945. His exceptional wartime service also earned him the Bronze Star Medal, three Purple Hearts, represented by two Oak Leaf Clusters, and three Presidential Unit Citations. His battalion's distinguished wartime honours included Presidential Unit Citations for Normandy, the Vire River and the Roer River, as well as Belgian Army citations for actions in Belgium and the Ardennes.

Following his discharge in 1946, Burt spent two decades in the paper industry before pursuing a career in education. He later taught mathematics and business at Franklin Pierce College and remained closely connected with Norwich University and the Medal of Honor community. In recognition of his extraordinary legacy, Norwich University named a campus road James M. Burt Drive.

James Montross Burt died on February 15, 2006, in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, aged 88. His story remains a powerful testament to courage, leadership and devotion to fellow soldiers. From the battlefields of North Africa to the battered streets outside Aachen, Captain Burt demonstrated that true leadership is measured not by the rank one holds, but by the lives one inspires and the sacrifices one is willing to make.

Official Medal of Honor citation

Capt. James M. Burt was in command of Company B, 66th Armored Regiment on the western outskirts of Wurselen, Germany on 13 October 1944, when his organization participated in a coordinated infantry-tank attack destined to isolate the large German garrision which was tenaciously defending the city of Aachen. In the first day's action, when infantrymen ran into murderous small-arms and mortar fire, Capt. Burt dismounted from his tank about 200 yards to the rear and moved forward on foot beyond the infantry positions, where, as the enemy concentrated a tremendous volume of fire upon him, he calmly motioned his tanks into good firing positions. As our attack gained momentum, he climbed aboard his tank and directed the action from the rear deck, exposed to hostile volleys which finally wounded him painfully in the face and neck. He maintained his dangerous post despite point-blank self-propelled gunfire until friendly artillery knocked out these enemy weapons, and then proceeded to the advanced infantry scout's positions to deploy his tanks for the defense of the gains which had been made. The next day, when the enemy counterattacked, he left cover and went 75 yards through heavy fire to assist the infantry battalion commander who was seriously wounded. For the next eight days, through rainy, miserable weather and under constant, heavy shelling, Capt. Burt held the combined forces together, dominating and controlling the critical situation through the sheer force of his heroic example. To direct artillery fire, on 15 October, he took his tank 300 yards into the enemy lines, where he dismounted and remained for one hour giving accurate data to friendly gunners. Twice more on that day he went into enemy territory under deadly fire on reconnaissance. In succeeding days he never faltered in his determination to defeat the strong German forces opposing him. Twice the tank in which he was riding was knocked out by enemy action, and each time he climbed aboard another vehicle and continued the fight. He took great risks to rescue wounded comrades and inflicted prodigious destruction on enemy personnel and material even though suffering from the wounds he received in the battle's opening phase. Capt. Burt's intrepidity and disregard for personal safety were so complete that his own men and the infantry who attached themselves to him were inspired to overcome the wretched and extremely hazardous conditions which accompanied one of the most bitter local actions of the war. The victory achieved closed the Aachen gap.