WW2 Fallen - Medal of Honor hero Truman Olson, 3rd Infantry Division

Medal of Honor hero Truman Olson and map showing location where he earned it.
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https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-A-Anzio/maps/USA-A-Anzio-7.jpg 

Truman O. Olson never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on October 13, 1917 in Wisconsin. His parents were both born in Norway. His father worked as a farmer. Truman had an older brother. Truman completed one year of high school and worked as a farm hand.

He enlisted in the army on July 1, 1942 and was sent to Italy as a replacement. He became a sergeant in Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.

Sgt. Olson was part of the amphibious landing at Anzio on January 22, 1944. Over the next week the American advance became more and more difficult as the Germans brought in more and more troops. January 30 was particularly brutal for Olson's Company B -- more than one third of it's men were casualties. His unit had only one light machine-gun to keep the Germans at bay. Through the night Olson and his gun crew repealed multiple attacks. By morning Olson was wounded and the rest of the crew was all wounded or dead. Sgt. Olson single handedly saved what was left of his company from being completely overrun before expiring from his wounds. By the time Company B and the rest of 1st Battalion was relieved, it was down to 20% strength.

Medal of Honor Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Olson, a light machine gunner, elected to sacrifice his life to save his company from annihilation. 

On the night of 30 January 1944, after a 16-hour assault on entrenched enemy positions in the course of which over one-third of Company B became casualties, the survivors dug in behind a horseshoe elevation, placing Sgt. Olson and his crew, with the 1 available machinegun, forward of their lines and in an exposed position to bear the brunt of the expected German counterattack. Although he had been fighting without respite, Sgt. Olson stuck grimly to his post all night while his guncrew was cut down, 1 by 1, by accurate and overwhelming enemy fire. 

Weary from over 24 hours of continuous battle and suffering from an arm wound, received during the night engagement, Sgt. Olson manned his gun alone, meeting the full force of an all-out enemy assault by approximately 200 men supported by mortar and machinegun fire which the Germans launched at daybreak on the morning of 31 January. After 30 minutes of fighting, Sgt. Olson was mortally wounded, yet, knowing that only his weapon stood between his company and complete destruction, he refused evacuation. For an hour and a half after receiving his second and fatal wound he continued to fire his machinegun, killing at least 20 of the enemy, wounding many more, and forcing the assaulting German elements to withdraw.

His grave is at West Koshkonong Lutheran Church Cemetery in Stoughton, Wisconsin.

Thank you Truman for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Truman.

On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!

I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.

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