Medal of Honor: Harold O. Messerschmidt, World War Two, September 1944

HAROLD O. MESSERSCHMIDT
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company L, 30th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division
Place and date: Near Radden, France, 17 September 1944
Entered service at: Chester, Pennsylvania
Born: Grier City, Pennsylvania
G.O. No.: 71, 17 July 1946

In the hills of France in September 1944, the men of Company L faced a savage counterattack. Waves of German infantry surged up the slope, firing machine guns, rifles, and pistols in a frenzied attempt to overrun the thin American line. For Sergeant Harold O. Messerschmidt of Pennsylvania, there was no thought of retreat. Calm and deliberate under fire, he moved across his 40-yard squad front, shouting encouragement, urging his men to stand firm against overwhelming odds.

The enemy pressed closer, and Messerschmidt was struck down by a burst of automatic fire. Yet he refused to yield. Rising to his feet despite serious wounds, he leveled his submachine gun at the oncoming attackers. Five fell dead before him, others were wounded, but the German assault did not relent. His ammunition spent, Messerschmidt refused to surrender. He turned his empty weapon into a bludgeon and fought hand-to-hand, swinging with furious strength as the enemy closed in.

Amid the chaos, he saw one of the enemy about to kill a wounded American. Without hesitation, he struck the German down with a crushing blow. Surrounded, battered, and nearly alone, Messerschmidt continued his desperate fight. Then, as reinforcements surged up the hill, he launched himself once more into the fray, buying precious seconds for his comrades. It was there, wielding his broken weapon against the enemy, that he fell — giving his life so that others might live and his position might hold.

Medal of Honor Citation:
He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. Braving machinegun, machine pistol, and rifle fire, he moved fearlessly and calmly from man to man along his 40-yard squad front, encouraging each to hold against the overwhelming assault of a fanatical foe surging up the hillside. Knocked to the ground by a burst from an enemy automatic weapon, he immediately jumped to his feet, and ignoring his grave wounds, fired his submachine gun at the enemy that was now upon them, killing 5 and wounding many others before his ammunition was spent. Virtually surrounded by a frenzied foe and all of his squad now casualties, he elected to fight alone, using his empty submachine gun as a bludgeon against his assailants. Spotting 1 of the enemy about to kill a wounded comrade, he felled the German with a blow of his weapon. Seeing friendly reinforcements running up the hill, he continued furiously to wield his empty gun against the foe in a new attack, and it was thus that he made the supreme sacrifice. Sgt. Messerschmidt’s sustained heroism in hand-to-hand combat with superior enemy forces was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.