M/Sgt. Oresko was a platoon leader with Company
C, in an attack against strong enemy positions. Deadly automatic fire
from the flanks pinned down his unit. Realizing that a machinegun in a
nearby bunker must be eliminated, he swiftly worked ahead alone, braving
bullets which struck about him, until close enough to throw a grenade
into the German position. He rushed the bunker and, with pointblank
rifle fire, killed all the hostile occupants who survived the grenade
blast. Another machinegun opened up on him, knocking him down and
seriously wounding him in the hip. Refusing to withdraw from the battle,
he placed himself at the head of his platoon to continue the assault.
As withering machinegun and rifle fire swept the area, he struck out
alone in advance of his men to a second bunker. With a grenade, he
crippled the dug-in machinegun defending this position and then wiped
out the troops manning it with his rifle, completing his second
self-imposed, 1-man attack. Although weak from loss of blood, he refused
to be evacuated until assured the mission was successfully
accomplished. Through quick thinking, indomitable courage, and
unswerving devotion to the attack in the face of bitter resistance and
while wounded, M /Sgt. Oresko killed 12 Germans, prevented a delay in
the assault, and made it possible for Company C to obtain its objective
with minimum casualties.
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