Paul J . Wiedorfer Paul Joseph Wiedorfer ( January 17 , 1921 – May 25 , 2011 ) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military ' s highest decoration , the Medal of Honor , for his actions in World War II . Biography . Born in Baltimore , Maryland , raised in the 2400 block of McElderry Street , he attended St . Andrew ' s School , and graduated in 1940 from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute . On November 11 , 2008 , a plaque honoring him was placed in Poly ' s Memorial Hall . Wiedorfer joined the Army from his birth city in July 1943 . When he joined the Army , he had been married to his bride , Alice Stauffer , for just six months , and working as an apprentice power station operator at the Baltimore Gas & Electric Company in Baltimore , and was living in the 1900 block of Bank Street . Wiedorfer received basic training at Camp Lee , Virginia . He was then assigned to the Quartermaster Corps , and then passed the examination for cadet air training . He was training to be a pilot , but the Army switched him to infantry because of greater need . On the way to England he crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the HMS Queen Mary , and by December 25 , 1944 , was serving as a private in Company G , 318th Infantry Regiment , 80th Infantry Division . On that Christmas Day , near Chaumont , Belgium , Wiedorfer single - handedly charged across 40 yards of open ground , destroyed two German machine gun emplacements and took six Germans prisoner . He was subsequently promoted to staff sergeant and on May 29 , 1945 , issued the Medal of Honor for his actions during the battle . While crossing the Saar River , he was severely wounded February 10 , 1945 , by a mortar shell that blew up near him ; shrapnel broke his left leg , ripped into his stomach , and seriously injured two fingers on his right hand . The soldier next to him died from his wounds and Paul credited that soldier for saving his life . Recent research has discovered the soldier ' s name to be PFC Milton C Smithers of Huntingdon , New Jersey . Paul was evacuated to the 137th United States Army General Hospital in England where he was placed in traction . While in the hospital a sergeant reading " Stars and Stripes " asked him how he spelled his name , and then told him he had received the Medal of Honor . Later , on May 29 , 1945 , Brigadier General Egmont F . Koenig with a band entered the ward to present him with his medal . Wiedorfer reached the rank of master sergeant before retiring from the Army . In addition to the Medal of Honor he was also awarded a Bronze Star and two Purple Heart s . He returned to Baltimore on June 11 , 1945 , and was given a ticker tape parade with General George C . Marshall and Maryland governor Herbert O ' Conor in attendance . After the war he spent another three years recovering in different Army hospitals and then returned to Baltimore Gas & Electric , and retired in 1981 after 40 years of service . He and Alice had four children . Wiedorfer died in Baltimore on May 25 , 2011 , at age 90 . He was buried in Baltimore ' s Moreland Memorial Park Cemetery on June 7 , 2011 . Medal of Honor citation . Wiedorfer ' s official Medal of Honor citation reads : He alone made it possible for his company to advance until its objective was seized . Company G had cleared a wooded area of sniper s , and 1 platoon was advancing across an open clearing toward another wood when it was met by heavy machinegun fire from 2 German positions dug in at the edge of the second wood . These positions were flanked by enemy riflemen . The platoon took cover behind a small ridge approximately 40 yards from the enemy position . There was no other available protection and the entire platoon was pinned down by the German fire . It was about noon and the day was clear , but the terrain extremely difficult due to a 3 - inch snowfall the night before over ice - covered ground . Pvt . Wiedorfer , realizing that the platoon advance could not continue until the 2 enemy machinegun nests were destroyed , voluntarily charged alone across the slippery open ground with no protecting cover of any kind . Running in a crouched position , under a hail of enemy fire , he slipped and fell in the snow , but quickly rose and continued forward with the enemy concentrating automatic and small - arms fire on him as he advanced . Miraculously escaping injury , Pvt . Wiedorfer reached a point some 10 yards from the first machinegun emplacement and hurled a handgrenade into it . With his rifle he killed the remaining Germans , and , without hesitation , wheeled to the right and attacked the second emplacement . One of the enemy was wounded by his fire and the other 6 immediately surrendered . This heroic action by 1 man enabled the platoon to advance from behind its protecting ridge and continue successfully to reach its objective . A few minutes later , when both the platoon leader and the platoon sergeant were wounded , Pvt . Wiedorfer assumed command of the platoon , leading it forward with inspired energy until the mission was accomplished .