Rudolph B . Davila Rudolph B . Davila ( April 27 , 1916 – January 26 , 2002 ) , born in El Paso , Texas , was a United States Army officer , of Spanish - Filipino descent , who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Italy during World War II . He was the only person of Filipino ancestry to receive the medal for his heroic actions in the European theatre . He was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross . However , in 1998 , after an extensive review , his medal was upgraded to the Medal of Honor . Early years . Davila was born to a Spanish father and a Filipino mother in El Paso , Texas . His family moved to Watts , California when he was a child . There he was raised and received his primary and secondary education . Davila enlisted in the Army from Los Angeles in March 1941 . World War II . Davila was a United States Army Staff Sergeant assigned to Company H of the 7th Infantry Regiment , 3rd Infantry Division . On May 28 , 1944 , his company was involved in an offensive , near Artena , Italy , which broke through the German mountain strongholds surrounding the Anzio beachhead . His company was under a heavy enemy attack and for an unknown reason his machine gunners were reluctant to risk putting their guns into action . Realizing that his company was in danger , Davila crawled 50 yards to the nearest machine gun and fired over 750 rounds into the enemy strongholds in the foothills . His fellow machine gunners reacted and Davila directed their firepower with hand and arm signals until the two enemy hostile machine guns were silenced . Despite being wounded by the enemy , he continued his assault by engaging the enemy from the turret of a burnt tank . Davila then spotted what he believed to be a rifle barrel in a farmhouse window . He grabbed a rifle and two grenade s and went inside the farmhouse . He tossed the grenades at the attic and shot at the troops inside , destroying two more enemy machine gun nests . The enemy was forced to abandon their prepared positions . Davila received a battlefield commission to Lieutenant and even though a Captain in the rifle company said he would recommend Davila for the Medal of Honor , the highest honor for battlefield valor , Davila was instead awarded the Distinguished Service Cross , the Army ' s second highest military honor . Davila continued to serve with his company after he recovered from his leg wound . A few months after the Artena attack , Davila found himself in France ' s Vosges Mountains . He received a chest wound from a shell which ricocheted off a tree as he was ordering his men to storm a German tank . The tank shell caused injuries that left his right arm paralyzed . Back home . Davila was treated for his wounds at a hospital in Modesto , California . There he met a nurse by the name of Harriet and three months later they were married . He continued his education and earned a bachelor ' s and master ' s degrees from the University of Southern California , and became a high school history teacher in Los Angeles . He moved to Vista in 1977 with his wife after he retired from teaching . His wife , Harriet Davila , lobbied Army officials to award the Medal of Honor to her husband based on the actions he performed during the Allied offensive in Italy , after she became aware of her husband ' s heroic actions . For years , she petitioned the government for her husband ' s medal — making phone calls , writing letters and researching military records to prove her husband deserved the Medal of Honor . No reply ever came . DSC upgraded to Medal of Honor . In 1996 , Hawaii Senator Daniel Akaka secured a Congressionally mandated review of records for Asian - Americans who had earned the Distinguished Service Cross in World War II . Congress reviewed the records to determine whether they were unfairly denied the military ' s highest award for valor . On June 21 , 2000 , President Bill Clinton , bestowed the Medal of Honor on Davila and 21 other World War II servicemen of Asian descent at a White House ceremony . Only seven of 22 recipients were still alive when the medals were handed out . Previously only two of the 40 , 000 - plus Asian - Americans who served in World War II had been awarded the Medal of Honor . Army Secretary Louis Caldera inducted the soldiers into the Pentagon ' s Hall of Heroes on June 22 . Harriet Davila , his wife , had died six months before , on December 25 , 1999 . Medal of Honor citation . Davila , Rudolph B . " Rank and organization : " Staff Sergeant , U . S . Army , Company H , 7th Infantry . " Place and date : " Artena , Italy , May 28 , 1944 " Entered service at : " Los Angeles , Calif . " Born : " April 27 , 1916 , El Paso , TX " Citation : " Later years . Subsequently , Davila was honored by the city of Vista . He served as the guest speaker at the Veterans of Foreign Wars ' Memorial Day ceremony in 2001 . Davila died of cancer on January 26 , 2002 , in Vista , California . He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery . At the time of his death Davila was survived by his three sons , Roland , Jeffrey and Gregg and two daughters Jill and Tana , and nine grandchildren . Awards and recognitions . Among Davila ' s decorations and medals were the following : Badges : Foreign unit decorations