Outnumbered, alone, and low on fuel, he chose to fight anyway. For half an hour, one fighter stood between a bomber force and destruction.
He ran headlong into machine-gun fire and a Tiger tank to save his platoon. One man’s relentless charge forced armor and infantry to break and withdraw.
With no weapon but his medical kit, he ran into a storm of fire to save the wounded. Even when his own body failed, his resolve did not.
When ordered to withdraw from a collapsing position, he chose instead to stand and fight. In a jungle firefight on Mount Austen, he turned refusal into sacrifice and loss into victory.
When ordered to fall back, he chose instead to stand fast where defeat would have followed retreat. In a jungle firefight on a brutal ridge, he turned a shattered gun position into a wall of sacrifice.
When enemy armor and infantry overran the line, he chose to stand alone between command posts and annihilation. For two days and nights, he refused to yield ground, turning sheer resolve into a fortress of one man.
When his platoon was caught in the open by overwhelming fire, he placed his own vehicle between his comrades and destruction. Standing alone under fire from three sides, he fought until his last moment so others could live.
