04-08-2021, 10:37 PM
Charles Henry Coolidge (August 4, 1921 – April 6, 2021) was a United States Army technical sergeant and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration for valor—the Medal of Honor—for his heroism in France during World War II.
At the time of his death, Coolidge was the only living Medal of Honor recipient from the European theater of the war, and the only one to receive the Medal of Honor during the war (with Hershel W. Williams receiving the medal after the war on October 5, 1945).[1]
Coolidge was drafted into the United States Army on June 16, 1942.[3] He received basic training at Fort McClellan in Alabama. He was then sent to Camp Butner, North Carolina, and Camp Edwards in Massachusetts, where he was assigned to M Company, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division. In April 1943, his unit was shipped overseas to Oran in Algeria, to participate in the North Africa Campaign. While serving as a machine gun section leader and sergeant, he was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action in Italy on May 31, 1944.[2][4]
On October 24, 1944, Coolidge was a technical sergeant in charge of group of machine-gunners and rifleman of M Company who were to hold a vital hilltop position in France near the German border. During four days of attacks at Hill 623, east of Belmont-sur-Buttant in France, Coolidge and his group held off numerous enemy infantrymen, plus two tanks on October 27 using grenades; one tank unsuccessfully fired 5 separate rounds at Coolidge personally. For his actions above and beyond the call of duty during the battle, Coolidge was presented the Medal of Honor by Lieutenant General Wade H. Haislip during a ceremony at an airfield near Dornstadt, Germany, on June 18, 1945. [2][5]
.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_H._Coolidge
At the time of his death, Coolidge was the only living Medal of Honor recipient from the European theater of the war, and the only one to receive the Medal of Honor during the war (with Hershel W. Williams receiving the medal after the war on October 5, 1945).[1]
Coolidge was drafted into the United States Army on June 16, 1942.[3] He received basic training at Fort McClellan in Alabama. He was then sent to Camp Butner, North Carolina, and Camp Edwards in Massachusetts, where he was assigned to M Company, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division. In April 1943, his unit was shipped overseas to Oran in Algeria, to participate in the North Africa Campaign. While serving as a machine gun section leader and sergeant, he was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action in Italy on May 31, 1944.[2][4]
On October 24, 1944, Coolidge was a technical sergeant in charge of group of machine-gunners and rifleman of M Company who were to hold a vital hilltop position in France near the German border. During four days of attacks at Hill 623, east of Belmont-sur-Buttant in France, Coolidge and his group held off numerous enemy infantrymen, plus two tanks on October 27 using grenades; one tank unsuccessfully fired 5 separate rounds at Coolidge personally. For his actions above and beyond the call of duty during the battle, Coolidge was presented the Medal of Honor by Lieutenant General Wade H. Haislip during a ceremony at an airfield near Dornstadt, Germany, on June 18, 1945. [2][5]
.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_H._Coolidge
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