Nicholas Oresko (January 18, 1917 – October 4, 2013) was an American combat veteran of World War II who received the Medal of Honor for his valorous actions in Germany on January 23, 1945.
Oresko was born in Bayonne, New Jersey on January 18, 1917. He was a descendant of the Ukrainian people.
He joined the US Army in March 1942. He was sent to Europe and arrived in France in September 1944, three months after the Normandy landings. A platoon sergeant in Company C, 1st Battalion, 302nd Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division, he spent the next several months with his unit mopping up pockets of German soldiers who had been bypassed in the Allies’ initial push through the northern part of France. In December 1944, the 94th Division was redeployed to replace the 90th Infantry Division as part of General Patton’s Third Army. The 94th Division assumed positions opposite the Westwall and the German’s 11th Panzer Division.
On January 23, 1945, near Tettingen, Germany, Master Sergeant Oresko single-handedly and under enemy fire, took out a German bunker position that was armed with a machine gun. Seriously wounded by another enemy machine gun from another bunker, he attacked that bunker under fire and destroyed that enemy position. Nine months later on October 30, 1945, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. President Harry Truman formally presented Oresko with the medal during a ceremony at the White House.
Congressional Medal of Honor Society: “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 machine gun 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 point-blank rifle fire, killed all the hostile occupants who survived the grenade blast. Another machine gun 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 machine-gun 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 machine gun defending this position and then wiped out the troops manning it with his rifle, completing his second self-imposed, one-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.”
Warfare History: “President Harry Truman presented the Medal of Honor to Oresko at the White House on October 30, 1945. His citation read in part: “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.”
Oresko had been wounded four times in the span of just a few minutes. Years later in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, he said that he and his late wife had returned in 1952 to the place of his heroics. “It was covered with bushes, but it was a good feeling to visit the place,” he said. “It felt good, but sad.”
