On June 14, 1944, during the Italian Campaign of World War II, Staff Sergeant Homer Wise of the U.S. Army's 36th Infantry Division displayed a level of courage that changed the course of a deadly engagement. As his platoon was pinned down by relentless enemy fire and flanked on both sides, Wise left cover and rushed into the open to rescue a severely wounded soldier, dragging him to safety under a hail of bullets. Moments later, when a German officer and two enemy soldiers threatened his platoon’s flank, Wise stepped out again, this time eliminating the threat with his submachine gun.

Without pause, he rejoined the fight, picked up an M1 rifle and anti-tank grenades, and led a push against entrenched German positions. When his unit was halted once more, Wise grabbed an automatic rifle and advanced ahead of the others, taking out a machine-gun nest on his own. As the firefight intensified, he ran to a nearby tank, climbed onto the turret under fire, cleared a jammed machine gun, and used it to pour fire into the enemy positions, breaking their resistance.

His actions that day turned a stalled and deadly situation into a decisive Allied breakthrough. Staff Sergeant Wise’s heroism saved countless lives and directly contributed to the battalion’s success. For his extraordinary bravery, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

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