Van Broadfoot, 92, World War II Medal of Honor winner died March 2nd after taking a fall February 28th near the flag he defended against the neighborhood association. He suffered a fractured skull, but got up and went back into his house.
He grew up in the south and was part Indian. He fought in Sicily and Salerno and at one point, May 23, 1944, in a battle near Carano, Italy, took a bazooka to protect his squad and single-handed captured 17 enemy prisoners, destroyed one tank and forced two others to retire before helping two wounded soldiers to safety.
He refused a trip back to the states to get his Medal of Honor so he could get it in the field so his men could be present.
He was in the news recently when his neighborhood association in Virginia said he couldn't fly the US flag. He won that fight as well.
His death leaves just 82 living Medal of Honor winners. I'm not sure if that is World War II winners or includes all survivors overall.
One of the Greatest. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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