Vito Rocco Bertoldo

He held two posts against tanks for forty-eight tense hours.

Vito Rocco Bertoldo was born in Decatur, Illinois, on 1 December 1916. Poor eyesight initially prevented his acceptance for ordinary military service. After the United States entered the Second World War, he was cleared for limited duty and enlisted in 1942 as a cook. He wanted a more active part in the fighting and pressed for a combat assignment. Eventually he joined the 42nd Infantry Division, serving with Company A, 1st Battalion, 242nd Infantry Regiment. The change placed a soldier once considered physically unsuitable for combat directly in the path of the German Operation Nordwind offensive in Alsace.

On 9 January 1945, German infantry and armour broke through the battalion's principal defensive line at Hatten, France. Bertoldo remained behind to protect its command posts while other Americans withdrew and reorganized. Instead of relying on the shelter of a building, he took his machine gun into the street and fired in full view of the attackers. He maintained that exposed position for nearly twelve hours, despite tank shells, machine-gun fire and small-arms fire.

The Medal of Honor citation says he remained "completely exposed to 88-mm, machine-gun, and small-arms fire" (official citation reproduced at https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/vito-r-bertoldo). When he returned inside, he fixed the gun to a table and fired through a window. A shell threw him across the room, but he recovered and resumed firing. His defence continued through the following day, covering two command posts and delaying repeated attacks. The citation credits his sustained resistance with helping preserve the battalion's organization during an exceptionally dangerous withdrawal.

He survived the action and received the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman at the White House on 18 December 1945. His other decorations included the Bronze Star Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Purple Heart and the French Croix de Guerre with a silver star. He left the Army in 1946 and became a Veterans Administration representative, first in Chicago and then, from 1947, in San Francisco. There he helped disabled and homeless veterans and assisted former servicemen seeking employment. In 1958 he left the VA for landscaping work. His son David later served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam. Bertoldo died in Martinez, California, on 23 July 1966, aged forty-nine. He was buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California.