What’s the best thing to do when you find yourself in an exposed position surrounded by the enemy? Sometimes, asking them to surrender might work the best.
Medal of Honor Recipient Charles Henry Coolidge
Charles Henry Coolidge was born on August 4, 1921, in Signal Mountain, Tenn., just across the Tennessee River from Chattanooga. The son of a printing company owner, Coolidge remembered his family “weren’t rich and we weren’t poor.” Coolidge worked in his father’s printing shop as a teenager during the Great Depression. When World War II came, Charlie was drafted into the Army in June 1942, and after basic training was assigned to M Company, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment of the 36th Infantry Division.
Charles H. Coolidge holds the medal that was presented to him on June 18, 1945 in Dormstadt, Germany.
In September 1943, the 36th Division landed in Italy. Coolidge and his men fought from Salerno and Anzio through Monte Cassino and into Rome. In May 1944, the “quick-witted” Coolidge, in command of a machine gun section, earned a Silver Star for directing “such an effective fire on the onrushing foe that those not killed or wounded were panicked into scattered disorganization.” After D-Day and the fall of Rome, the 36th Division was ordered to France to help lead the push into Germany.
“The area was swept by enemy small-arms, machine-gun, and tank fire. TSgt. Coolidge armed himself with a bazooka and advanced within 25 yards of the tanks. His bazooka failed to function and he threw it aside.”
On October 12, 1944, Coolidge’s company was posted on a hill outside Belmont sur Buttant, near the German border, when an enemy unit approached. Unobserved, Coolidge and a sergeant who spoke German slowly moved forward to locate machine gun firing positions. As the much larger force surrounded them, Coolidge calmly told his friend to “ask them if they wanted to give up.” While the Germans answered, one of them took aim at Coolidge’s sergeant. Coolidge quickly fired first, then again at another attacker, killing both. Then, as Coolidge remembered, “we had a little firefight.” Coolidge took command of the unit, most of whom were new recruits and had never faced combat before. He “walked along the position, calming and encouraging his men and directing their fire.”
Four recipients of the Medal of Honor prepare to lead an Armed Forces Day Parade in Chattanooga, Tenn. In the back seat, from left to right, is Paul Huff, Charles Cooldige and Raymond Cooley. Driving the vehicle is Alvin York, a recipient of the Medal of Honor from World War I.
The fight on the hillside continued for three more days, but Coolidge and his men held on even as the enemy was reinforced with tanks. Ultimately, his unit was withdrawn, with Coolidge the last man to leave the hillside. Eight months later, 23-year-old Technical Sergeant Charles H. Coolidge was awarded the Medal of Honor for his “heroic and superior leadership” on the hill.
When Coolidge died on April 6, 2021, he was the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient and the last surviving recipient from the European Theater of World War II. The year before, Coolidge attended the opening of the Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center. This new museum, dedicated in Charlie’s honor to telling the stories of those who earned our nation’s highest award, was opened in Chattanooga, not far down the road from Signal Mountain.
Charles H. Coolidge (front) is joined by nine other recipients of the Medal of Honor during the dedication of the Charles H. Cooldige National Medal of Honor Hertiage Center in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Feb. 22, 2020.
“Leading a section of heavy machine guns supported by one platoon of Company K, he took a position near Hill 623, east of Belmont-sur-Buttant, France, 24 October 1944, with the mission of covering the right flank of the 3d Battalion and supporting its action. TSgt. Coolidge went forward with a sergeant of Company K to reconnoiter positions for coordinating the fires of the light and heavy machine guns. They ran into an enemy force in the woods estimated to be an infantry company. TSgt. Coolidge, attempting to bluff the Germans by a show of assurance and boldness, called upon them to surrender, whereupon the enemy opened fire. With his carbine, TSgt. Coolidge wounded two of them. There being no officer present with the force, TSgt. Coolidge at once assumed command. Many of the men were replacements recently arrived; this was their first experience under fire. TSgt. Coolidge, unmindful of the enemy fire delivered at close range, walked along the position, calming and encouraging his men and directing their fire. The attack was thrown back. Through 24 and 26 October the enemy launched repeated attacks against the position of this combat group but each was repulsed due to TSgt. Coolidge's able leadership. On 27 October, German infantry, supported by two tanks, made a determined attack on the position. The area was swept by enemy small-arms, machine-gun, and tank fire. TSgt. Coolidge armed himself with a bazooka and advanced within 25 yards of the tanks. His bazooka failed to function and he threw it aside. Securing all the hand grenades he could carry, he crawled forward and inflicted heavy casualties on the advancing enemy. Finally it became apparent that the enemy, in greatly superior force, supported by tanks, would overrun the position. TSgt. Coolidge, displaying great coolness and courage, directed and conducted an orderly withdrawal, being himself the last to leave the position. As a result of TSgt. Coolidge's heroic and superior leadership, the mission of his combat group was accomplished throughout four days of continuous fighting against numerically superior enemy troops in rain and cold and amid dense woods.”
Technical Sergeant Charles H. Coolidge's Medal of Honor Citation