Michael Colalillo-Duluth, MN - Medal Of Honor Resting Places on Waymarking.com

He was born on December 1, 1925 in Hibbing, MN and died on December 30, 2011 in Duluth, MN. His Medal of Honor information and citation is: MICHAEL COLALILLO Rank: Private First Class Organization: U.S. Army
Company: Company C
Division: 398th Infantry, 100th Infantry Division
Born: Hibbing, Minn.
Departed: Yes (12/30/2011)
Entered Service At: Duluth, Minn.
G.O. Number: 4
Date of Issue: 12/18/1945
Accredited To: Duluth, Minn
Place / Date: Near Untergriesheim, Germany, 7 April 1945

Citation
He was pinned down with other members of his company during an attack against strong enemy positions in the vicinity of Untergriesheim, Germany. Heavy artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire made any move hazardous when he stood up, shouted to the company to follow, and ran forward in the wake of a supporting tank, firing his machine pistol. Inspired by his example, his comrades advanced in the face of savage enemy fire. When his weapon was struck by shrapnel and rendered useless, he climbed to the deck of a friendly tank, manned an exposed machinegun on the turret of the vehicle, and, while bullets rattled about him, fired at an enemy emplacement with such devastating accuracy that he killed or wounded at least 10 hostile soldiers and destroyed their machinegun. Maintaining his extremely dangerous post as the tank forged ahead, he blasted 3 more positions, destroyed another machine gun emplacement and silenced all resistance in his area, killing at least 3 and wounding an undetermined number of riflemen as they fled. His machine gun eventually jammed; so he secured a submachine gun from the tank crew to continue his attack on foot. When our armored forces exhausted their ammunition and the order to withdraw was given, he remained behind to help a seriously wounded comrade over several hundred yards of open terrain rocked by an intense enemy artillery and mortar barrage. By his intrepidity and inspiring courage Pfc. Colalillo gave tremendous impetus to his company's attack, killed or wounded 25 of the enemy in bitter fighting, and assisted a wounded soldier in reaching the American lines at great risk of his own life.

The photo was taken by Shelly Liebler and posted on findagrave.com

*SPECIAL EXCEPTION WAYMARK* This category made the decision to approve this waymark based on the research and partnerships between the submitter, Don.Morfe, and individuals who gave permission for their photos of Medal of Honor resting places to be used in this community. Although the vision and philosophy of the Waymarking body is to promote in-person visits and photo documentation, special circumstances can be made on a case-by-case basis such as this submission. We appreciate the fact that Don.Morfe spent over 20 years visiting more than 2,900 Medal of Honor resting places and has documented them in this category with personal photos the past 18 months. He recently took it upon himself to document many more Medal of Honor resting places around the world that he could not visit in person. He reached out to individuals on FindaGrave.com and elsewhere and received permission to use their photos, created write-ups and submitted them here for approval. A compromise was made to allow his submissions here in order to gain a sense of appreciation to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. Thank you, Don, for your tireless efforts and contributions to this category and to the Waymarking community!

Armed Service: Army

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