Nicholas Oresko

Wounded, he stormed a second bunker to free his own platoon.

Nicholas Oresko was born on 18 January 1917 in Bayonne, New Jersey. He worked in shipping for Standard Oil before being drafted into the U.S. Army in March 1942. Initially assigned to the 77th Infantry Division, he transferred to Company C, 1st Battalion, 302nd Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division. He reached France in 1944 and served in Brittany before the division moved east to the Saar-Moselle sector. By January 1945 he was a platoon leader.

On 23 January 1945 near Tettington, Germany, enemy fire pinned down his unit. Oresko advanced alone and destroyed a bunker with a grenade and rifle fire. Seriously wounded by another machine gun, he continued the assault and overcame a second bunker. He refused evacuation until the mission had succeeded, helping his company reach its objective.

Oresko recovered in hospital and served on limited duty until his discharge in November 1945. President Harry S. Truman presented him with the Medal of Honor at the White House on 12 October 1945. Back in New Jersey, Oresko returned to Standard Oil and then worked for the Veterans Administration for 32 years. He died on 4 October 2013 and was buried in George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.

Medal of Honor citation

M/Sgt. Oresko was a platoon leader with Company C, in an attack against strong enemy positions. Deadly automatic fire from the flanks pinned down his unit. Realizing that a machine gun in a nearby bunker must be eliminated, he swiftly worked ahead alone, braving bullets which struck about him, until close enough to throw a grenade into the German position. He rushed the bunker and, with point-blank rifle fire, killed all the hostile occupants who survived the grenade blast. Another machine gun opened up on him, knocking him down and seriously wounding him in the hip. Refusing to withdraw from the battle, he placed himself at the head of his platoon to continue the assault. As withering machine-gun and rifle fire swept the area, he struck out alone in advance of his men to a second bunker. With a grenade, he crippled the dug-in machine gun defending this position and then wiped out the troops manning it with his rifle, completing his second self-imposed, one-man attack. Although weak from loss of blood, he refused to be evacuated until assured the mission was successfully accomplished. Through quick thinking, indomitable courage, and unswerving devotion to the attack in the face of bitter resistance and while wounded, M/Sgt. Oresko killed 12 Germans, prevented a delay in the assault, and made it possible for Company C to obtain its objective with minimum casualties.