Featured Hero
Charles Henry Coolidge
By Patty Parks
Official reports are traditionally dry but the plain facts contained in Technical Sergeant Charles Henry Coolidge’s Medal of Honor citation convey a thrilling and extraordinary story. Charlie had merited decoration previously and had even refused a field commission for bravery -- he joined as an enlisted man and desired to return home as an enlisted man. Therefore, his nomination for the Medal of Honor grew out of a sustained exhibition of courage and calmness under fire.
With no officer present on October 24, 1944, Sergeant Coolidge as ranking enlisted man took over his small company near Belmont Sur Buttant, France. Though composed primarily of “replacement” men with little or no combat experience, the company’s position was integral to the front line and Charlie made certain they held it. For four long days they were repeatedly subject to the constant danger of annihilation.
Reckless of his own safety and life, Coolidge set the example by his own steadiness. His nerve never waived and hence the nerves of his men never faltered. He did not ask them to do anything he would not dare to, but gave them the needed example of effective action.
Many good soldiers thrust into such a position of peril might have suffered a collapse long before the period was over. That Coolidge measured up during this 96-hour ordeal is testament to his heroism and strength of character.
Recalling those long-ago days, Charlie, an Army draftee called up in 1943 from his Signal Mountain hometown, said, “I was with Company M, 141st Infantry, 36th Division. I was the leader of a section of heavy machine guns. We ran into a German infantry company and I yelled at them to surrender. They opened fire.”
Coolidge used his carbine and wounded two enemy soldiers. Ignoring enemy fire, he then walked the line calming his men and directing their fire. They repulsed that attack and numerous others. As a result, the Germans, who had a greatly superior force, were unable to make a successful attack during the next two days.
On October 27 the German infantry, supported by two tanks, made another determined attacked. One of the tanks came so close that its commander, standing up in the open turret, was able to call out to Coolidge -- in perfect English -- a demand that he surrender.
“Sorry, Mac, you’ll have to come and get me,” Coolidge yelled back. The German tank commander whirled the turret around, trying to shoot Coolidge as he took cover behind the trees. Coolidge armed himself with a bazooka and moved to a position within 25 yards of the tank.
“I tried to fire the bazooka and it wouldn’t work. I grabbed a case of hand grenades and started tossing them. I killed a lot of German infantry but the tanks were too much,” Charlie said. When it became apparent the enemy would soon overrun the position, Coolidge reluctantly ordered a withdrawal with him the last to leave.
When told about the medal nomination, Charlie told his lieutenant he would rather just go home. “I’m not ashamed to admit it. I didn’t want to go to war but it was my duty as a citizen,” he said. Laughing, Coolidge added, “…the regulations stated, I found out later, that if you’re put in for the Medal of Honor you’re supposed to be pulled off the line.
“So much for that. I didn’t know about the reg and neither did anyone else so I stayed in combat, on the line.”
On the “line” for more than two years fighting in Sicily, Italy, France and Germany, it has been estimated by some that Charles Coolidge saw more front line action during World War II than any other American soldier. Another anomaly is Coolidge – for all his time spent in combat and on the front line – was never injured in battle.
When he was told he was to receive the Medal of Honor, Coolidge knew what the medal was only because Sergeant Alvin York, a World War I medal recipient, was also from Tennessee. The ceremony took place on June 18, 1945, at a bombed-out airfield near Dornstadt, Germany. The medal was presented by General Frederick Haislip.
Charles Coolidge currently resides near Chattanooga, Tennessee, where a highway and park have been named for him. He still goes to work every day at the family business, Chattanooga Printing and Engraving, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010. Charlie will celebrate his 90th birthday in August 2011.
Bibliography:
1. Chattanooga News-Free Press clippings ca 1945
2. “The Bayonet,” 19Sep1986, page 64 (Magazine by Public Affairs, Fort Benning GA)
3. “The Combustion Patriot,” July 1945, page 7 (Magazine by Combustion Engineering Co., Inc, Chattanooga TN)
4. Personal interviews with Charles Coolidge, Medal of Honor recipient
(L-R) Huff-Coolidge-Cooley-York |
Coolidge Receives Award |
