Medal of Honor: Paul L. Bolden – World War II – December 23, 1944

Name: Paul L. Bolden
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Organization: U.S. Army
Unit: Company I, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division
Place and Date: Petit-Coo, Belgium – 23 December 1944
Entered Service At: Madison, Alabama
Born: Hobbes Island, Iowa
Accredited To: Alabama

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Summary of Action

On 23 December 1944, during the fierce fighting of the Ardennes campaign, Staff Sergeant Paul L. Bolden’s company was pinned down near Petit-Coo, Belgium, by devastating automatic and small-arms fire coming from a heavily defended house approximately 200 yards to the front. Mortar and tank artillery fire pounded the American position, threatening to halt the advance entirely.

Acting on his own initiative, S/Sgt. Bolden and a single comrade moved forward through a hail of bullets to eliminate the enemy strongpoint. Crawling toward the house occupied by a vastly superior German force, Bolden positioned himself beneath a window while his comrade took a covering position across the street.

Bolden hurled both a fragmentation grenade and a white phosphorous grenade into the building, then immediately rushed the door. Inside, he encountered approximately 35 SS troopers attempting to reorganize. With his submachine gun, he killed 20 of the enemy before being struck by bullets in the shoulder, chest, and stomach. The same burst killed his comrade outside.

Despite his severe wounds, Bolden withdrew momentarily, expecting the remaining Germans to surrender. When none emerged, he gathered his remaining strength, ignored the extreme pain of his injuries, and boldly reentered the building alone, firing as he advanced. He killed the remaining 15 enemy soldiers before his ammunition was finally exhausted.

His solitary assault destroyed a formidable enemy position and cleared the way for his company to continue its mission.

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Medal of Honor Citation

He voluntarily attacked a formidable enemy strong point in Petit-Coo, Belgium, on 23 December, 1944, when his company was pinned down by extremely heavy automatic and small-arms fire coming from a house 200 yards to the front. Mortar and tank artillery shells pounded the unit, when S/Sgt. Bolden and a comrade, on their own initiative, moved forward into a hail of bullets to eliminate the ever-increasing fire from the German position. Crawling ahead to close with what they knew was a powerfully armed, vastly superior force, the pair reached the house and took up assault positions, S/Sgt. Bolden under a window, his comrade across the street where he could deliver covering fire. In rapid succession, S/Sgt. Bolden hurled a fragmentation grenade and a white phosphorous grenade into the building; and then, fully realizing that he faced tremendous odds, rushed to the door, threw it open and fired into 35 SS troopers who were trying to reorganize themselves after the havoc wrought by the grenades. Twenty Germans died under fire of his submachinegun before he was struck in the shoulder, chest, and stomach by part of a burst which killed his comrade across the street. He withdrew from the house, waiting for the surviving Germans to come out and surrender. When none appeared in the doorway, he summoned his ebbing strength, overcame the extreme pain he suffered and boldly walked back into the house, firing as he went. He had killed the remaining 15 enemy soldiers when his ammunition ran out. S/Sgt. Bolden’s heroic advance against great odds, his fearless assault, and his magnificent display of courage in reentering the building where he had been severely wounded cleared the path for his company and insured the success of its mission.