Sergeant Truman O. Olson, a soldier in the U.S. Army, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for gallantry between January 30 and 31, 1944 near Cisterna di Littoria, Italy during World War II. At the time he was serving with Company B, 7th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Olson was 26 years old.
Olson was killed in the action for which his medal was awarded. 2 other service members also received the Medal of Honor for actions on the same day.
Olson was born on October 13, 1917 in Christiana, Dane County, Wisconsin. His Medal of Honor is credited to Cambridge, Dane County, Wisconsin. He is buried at West Koshkonong Lutheran Cemetery in Stoughton, Wisconsin.
Olson is one of 474 Medal of Honor recipients from World War II and one of 50 credited to Wisconsin.
Official Medal of Honor citation
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Olson, a light machinegunner, elected to sacrifice his life to save his company from annihilation. On the night of 30 January 1944, after a 16-hour assault on entrenched enemy positions in the course of which over one-third of Company B became casualties, the survivors dug in behind a horseshoe elevation, placing Sgt. Olson and his crew, with the one available machine gun, forward of their lines and in an exposed position to bear the brunt of the expected German counterattack. Although he had been fighting without respite, Sgt. Olson stuck grimly to his post all night while his guncrew was cut down, one by one, by accurate and overwhelming enemy fire. Weary from over 24 hours of continuous battle and suffering from an arm wound, received during the night engagement, Sgt. Olson manned his gun alone, meeting the full force of an all-out enemy assault by approximately 200 men supported by mortar and machine-gun fire which the Germans launched at daybreak on the morning of 31 January. After 30 minutes of fighting, Sgt. Olson was mortally wounded, yet, knowing that only his weapons stood between his company and complete destruction, he refused evacuation. For an hour and a half after receiving his second and fatal wound he continued to fire his machine gun, killing as least 20 of the enemy, wounding many more, and forcing the assaulting German elements to withdraw.
Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.
Wounds and death in action
What the citation records about his wounds:
Weary from over 24 hours of continuous battle and suffering from an arm wound, received during the night engagement, Sgt. Olson manned his gun alone, meeting the full force of an all-out enemy assault by approximately 200 men supported by mortar and machine-gun fire which the Germans launched at daybreak on the morning of 31 January.
After 30 minutes of fighting, Sgt. Olson was mortally wounded, yet, knowing that only his weapons stood between his company and complete destruction, he refused evacuation.
- Killed in action during the act for which the medal was awarded (January 31, 1944).
- Age at death: 26
- Resting place: West Koshkonong Lutheran Cemetery
Battles and campaigns
Also served in: World War II.
Places
- Born: Christiana — map
- Died: Cisterna di Latina — map
- Buried: West Koshkonong Lutheran Church Cemetery — map
Veteran resources, cemeteries and meeting places in Wisconsin →
Timeline
- October 13, 1917Born in Christiana, Dane County, Wisconsin
- January 30 - 31, 1944Act of valor — near Cisterna di Littoria, ItalyAge 26. Company B, 7th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division Killed in action.
- Resting placeWest Koshkonong Lutheran CemeteryStoughton, Wisconsin
Biography
Truman O. Olson (October 13, 1917 – January 31, 1944) was a United States Army sergeant who was posthumously awarded the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in World War II. Olson was born on October 13, 1917, in Christiana, Wisconsin, and enlisted in the army from nearby Cambridge in June 1942. He was sent to Europe in 1943 and by January 30 of the next year was serving in Italy as a sergeant in Company B of the 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. On that day, near Cisterna di Littoria, he participated in the Battle of Cisterna.
From the Wikipedia article “Truman O. Olson”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full article →
