The following is an excerpt from an obituary in the NYTimes, 6-17-02 --
Gino Merli, who was awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II for operating a machine gun that blocked a German advance at a United States Army outpost in Belgium, died last Tuesday at his home in Peckville, Pa. He was 78.
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On Sept. 4, 1944, Private Merli was a machine-gunner with the First Infantry Division's 18th Infantry when 14 men from his company set up a roadblock near the village of Sars la Bruyere, a few miles from the French border.
At least 100 German soldiers came down a cobblestone road, and their fire knocked out one of the Americans' two machine-gun positions. Private Merli and his assistant gunner killed several members of the German patrol from the surviving machine-gun position, but then Private Merli's assistant was killed by return fire.
The remaining members of his unit retreated or were killed, wounded or captured.
Refusing to abandon his position, Private Merli was alone in his foxhole at midnight, and he held off several more German attacks, expending about 2,000 rounds of ammunition.
Once, when continuing to fire would have given Private Merli's position away, a group of Germans approached his foxhole and saw what appeared to be two dead soldiers inside. The body of Private Merli's assistant gunner was on top, and he was lying below, pretending to be dead.
The Germans prodded Private Merli in the buttocks with their bayonets, inflicting four wounds, but he did not cry out. Satisfied that he was dead, the German soldiers departed. Then Private Merli began firing again.
At daybreak, the remnants of the German patrol surrendered after American troops opened a counter-assault. Private Merli then jumped from his gun pit, having survived with a finger wound and the four bayonet wounds.
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On June 15, 1945, Private Merli received the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman. The citation noted "the losses and confusion" that Private Merli had inflicted on the enemy and told of the aftermath of his long night at his machine gun at Sars la Bruyere: "On the battlefield lay 52 enemy dead, 19 of whom were directly in front of the gun."
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These brave soldiers are slowly leaving us, and we must not forget their sacrifice.
Mike