Great Medal of Honor story today! Vito Bertoldo was exempt from WW2 service because of poor eyesight, but he finagled his way into enlisting for limited duty as an MP. Once he was in the Army, he talked his way into the infantry and went overseas with the 42nd Infantry Division. 

While guarding his battalion’s command post on January 9-10, 1945, he almost single handedly fought off a German tank and infantry attack, taking initiative and showing incredible courage. Bertoldo was the sort of man who makes nations great! 

Before the War, Bertoldo grew up near Decatur, Illinois, working as a truck driver and in the munitions industry, before talking his way into the Army in 1942, serving first as a Military Policeman and then in the infantry, as a cook with the 42nd Infantry Division.

In the Battle of the Bulge, Bertoldo was pulled from mess duty and assigned to guard his battalion’s command post, giving him the opportunity to take initiative and lead in dire circumstance. On January 9 he protected the battalion staff’s withdrawal under fire, manning a machine gun and focusing on the advancing infantry with disciplined fire. The next day, he defended the new battalion CP, exposing himself to enemy fire and tossing grenades at rushing Germans. At one point an 88mm gun fired point blank into his position, knocking him across the room. He recovered, though, helped his buddy to safety, and continued to fight.

Bertoldo served until the end of the War, rising from Private to Master Sergeant, receiving the Medal of Honor from President Truman and then working for the VA in San Francisco, passing in 1966. He is buried at the Golden Gate National Cemetery, and is survived by a son, David, who fought as a Marine in Vietnam, and a grandson, David Christopher, who fought with the US Army in the Gulf War. 

Honor and remember Vito Bertoldo!