George Peterson

Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army

Medal of Honor Recipient

World War II

Staff Sergeant George Peterson (died 30 March 1945) was a U.S. Army soldier who was posthumously awarded the U.S. military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his heroic actions during World War II.

George Peterson joined the Army from his birth place of Brooklyn, NY. On 30 March 1945, he was serving as a Staff Sergeant in Company K, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. During a battle that day near Eisern, Germany, Peterson was severely wounded but continued in the fight and single-handedly destroyed three German machine gun nests before receiving another wound, this one fatal. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism.

Medal of Honor

Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company K, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.

Place and date: Near Eisern, Germany, 30 March 1945.

Citation: He was an acting platoon sergeant with Company K, near Eisern, Germany. When his company encountered an enemy battalion and came under heavy small-arms, machinegun, and mortar fire, the 2d Platoon was given the mission of flanking the enemy positions while the remaining units attacked frontally. S/Sgt. Peterson crept and crawled to a position in the lead and motioned for the 2d Platoon to follow. A mortar shell fell close by and severely wounded him in the legs, but although bleeding and suffering intense pain, he refused to withdraw and continued forward. Two hostile machineguns went into action at close range. Braving this grazing fire, he crawled steadily toward the guns and worked his way alone to a shallow draw, where, despite the hail of bullets, he raised himself to his knees and threw a grenade into the nearest machinegun nest, silencing the weapon and killing or wounding all its crew. The second gun was immediately turned on him, but he calmly and deliberately threw a second grenade which rocked the position and killed all 4 Germans who occupied it. As he continued forward he was spotted by an enemy rifleman, who shot him in the arm. Undeterred, he crawled some 20 yards until a third machinegun opened fire on him. By almost superhuman effort, weak from loss of blood and suffering great pain, he again raised himself to his knees and fired a grenade from his rifle, killing 3 of the enemy guncrew and causing the remaining one to flee. With the first objective seized, he was being treated by the company aid man when he observed 1 of his outpost men seriously wounded by a mortar burst. He wrenched himself from the hands of the aid man and began to crawl forward to assist his comrade, whom he had almost reached when he was struck and fatally wounded by an enemy bullet. S/Sgt. Peterson, by his gallant, intrepid actions, unrelenting fighting spirit, and outstanding initiative, silenced 3 enemy machineguns against great odds and while suffering from severe wounds, enabling his company to advance with minimum casualties.

Medals and Awards

Medal of Honor
Bronze Star Medal (2)
Purple Heart (4)

Death and Burial

Staff Sergeant George Peterson was killed in action on 30 March 1945. He is buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten, the Netherlands, in Plot D, Row 21, Grave 10.