Walter J. Will

He rescued three wounded men under fire in Germany

Walter J. Will was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1922 and entered the U.S. Army from West Winfield, New York, in December 1940. He earned the Medal of Honor near Eisern, Germany, on March 30, 1945. A first lieutenant in Company K, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, he rescued three wounded soldiers under fire, continuing after he was wounded himself.

Will then led his platoon forward and personally attacked two machine-gun positions. Seeing another platoon pinned down, he led a flanking maneuver and eliminated two more guns with grenades. He returned to his men and led a final charge that drove the enemy back. He was mortally wounded in that advance.

Born in Pittsburgh on March 19, 1922, Will received the medal posthumously. He was buried at Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.

Medal of Honor citation

He displayed conspicuous gallantry during an attack on powerful enemy positions. He courageously exposed himself to withering hostile fire to rescue two wounded men and then, although painfully wounded himself, made a third trip to carry another soldier to safety from an open area. Ignoring the profuse bleeding of his wound, he gallantly led men of his platoon forward until they were pinned down by murderous flanking fire from two enemy machine guns. He fearlessly crawled alone to within 30 feet of the first enemy position, killed the crew of four, and silenced the gun with accurate grenade fire. He continued to crawl through intense enemy fire to within 20 feet of the second position where he leaped to his feet, made a lone, ferocious charge, and captured the gun and its nine-man crew. Observing another platoon pinned down by two more German machine guns, he led a squad on a flanking approach and, rising to his knees in the face of direct fire, coolly and deliberately lobbed three grenades at the Germans, silencing one gun and killing its crew. With tenacious aggressiveness, he ran toward the other gun and knocked it out with grenade fire. He then returned to his platoon and led it in a fierce, inspired charge, forcing the enemy to fall back in confusion. First Lt. Will was mortally wounded in this last action, but his heroic leadership, indomitable courage, and unflinching devotion to duty live on as a perpetual inspiration to all those who witnessed his deeds.