How one GI’s sacrifice helped pave the Army’s way to Aachen, Germany

Medals for valor are often earned for outstanding individual service amid unfathomable circumstance. Oftentimes, however, those honored will insist that the action in which they distinguished themselves was a matter of teamwork.

A case in point might be seen in an Oct. 12, 1944 clash of platoons in the German town of Bardenberg, where the outcome of a singular soldier’s sacrifice hung in the balance, depending on his comrades-in-arms — and on his enemies.

In fall 1944, Bardenberg was just another of those objectives contributing to a strategically greater goal, in this case the city of Aachen, whose fall would mark the first seizure of German territory by the U.S. Army.

Tasked with assaulting Bardenberg was the 120th Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division. Dubbed “Old Hickory,” the activated National Guard unit had been in combat since its landing at Normandy on June 15. On Oct. 10 the Americans took the area in spite of the Germans converting cellars throughout the town into deadly pillboxes.