Biography
Bertoldo joined the Army from his birth place of Decatur, Illinois, and by January 9, 1945 was serving as a Master Sergeant in Company A, 242nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division. On that day, in Hatten, France, he manned a machine gun in defense of a command post being attacked by a numerically superior German force. When evacuation became necessary, he voluntarily stayed behind to cover the withdrawal. The next morning he moved to another command post, and again defended it against a continued assault by strong German forces and voluntarily covered the withdrawal of friendly forces when the post was abandoned. For these actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor one year later, on January 10, 1946.
Bertoldo left the Army while still a master sergeant. He died at age 49 and was buried in Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, California.
Read more about this topic: Vito R. Bertoldo
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