World War II
Gerry H. Kisters
Second Lieutenant (then Sergeant) · U.S. Army
U.S. Army, 2d Armored Division
31 July 1943 · Gagliano, Sicily
Public domain. Signal Corps Archive. Wikimedia Commons. Source file
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Era
- World War II
- Home state
- Indiana
- Action
- Gagliano, Sicily
The citation
Official citation
On 31 July 1943, near Gagliano, Sicily, a detachment of 1 officer and 9 enlisted men, including Sergeant. Kisters, advancing ahead of the leading elements of U.S. troops to fill a large crater in the only available vehicle route through Gagliano, was taken under fire by 2 enemy machineguns. Sergeant. Kisters and the officer, unaided and in the face of intense small arms fire, advanced on the nearest machinegun emplacement and succeeded in capturing the gun and its crew of 4. Although the greater part of the remaining small arms fire was now directed on the captured machinegun position, Sergeant. Kisters voluntarily advanced alone toward the second gun emplacement. While creeping forward, he was struck 5 times by enemy bullets, receiving wounds in both legs and his right arm. Despite the wounds, he continued to advance on the enemy, and captured the second machinegun after killing 3 of its crew and forcing the fourth member to flee. The courage of this soldier and his unhesitating willingness to sacrifice his life, if necessary, served as an inspiration to the command.