Nelson V. Brittin

He led his squad up a defended hill despite his wounds

Nelson Vogel Brittin was born at Audubon, New Jersey, on 31 October 1920. He grew up in a large family and attended Audubon High School. Drafted into the Army during the Second World War, he fought in Italy and was discharged in 1946. He stayed in Italy for several months to study at the University of Florence before returning home.

In 1948, Brittin reenlisted. He served with the occupation forces in Japan and then went to Korea. During the Korean War he served in the 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, and was wounded in December 1950 and February 1951.

On 7 March 1951 near Yonggong-ni, Sergeant First Class Brittin volunteered to lead his squad against a heavily defended hill. He advanced under covering fire and attacked the nearest enemy position with a grenade. Returning to his men, he was knocked down and wounded by another grenade, but refused evacuation.

After replenishing his grenades, he attacked further positions and fired at defenders as they fled. When his rifle jammed, he entered a foxhole and fought its occupants with his bayonet and rifle butt. He then worked around a machine-gun position that was holding up his squad, attacked it from behind and shot its surviving crew as they emerged.

The advance encountered another concealed machine gun farther up the hill. Brittin charged it and was killed by automatic fire. His sustained attacks had broken successive defensive positions and enabled his company to gain its objective.

His body returned to the United States in November 1951 for burial in Beverly National Cemetery, New Jersey. Defence Secretary Robert Lovett presented his posthumous Medal of Honor to his parents at the Pentagon on 16 January 1952. Audubon later commemorated him alongside the town's other Medal of Honor recipients.