مايكل فالينتي

الرتبة والتنظيم: جندي، الجيش الأمريكي، السرية د، الفوج 107 مشاة، الفرقة 27. المكان والتاريخ: شرق رونسوي، فرنسا؛ 29 سبتمبر 1918. مكان الالتحاق بالخدمة: أوغدينسبورغ، نيويورك. تاريخ الميلاد: 5 فبراير 1895؛ كاسينو، إيطاليا. الأوامر العامة: وزارة الحرب، الأوامر العامة رقم 16 (26 سبتمبر 1929).

الاقتباس:

Finding the advance of his organization held up by a withering enemy machinegun fire, Private Valente volunteered to go forward. With utter disregard of his own personal danger, accompanied by another soldier, Private Valente rushed forward through an intense machinegun fire directly upon the enemy nest, killing two and capturing five of the enemy and silencing the gun. Discovering another machinegun nest close by which was pouring a deadly fire on the American forces, preventing their advance, Private Valente and his companion charged upon this strong point, killing the gunner and putting this machinegun out of action. Without hesitation they jumped into the enemy's trench, killed two and captured 16 German soldiers. Private Valente was later wounded and sent to the rear.^[2]

Source:^[4]

MICHAEL VALENTE, Pvt., Co. D.British Military Medal

Pvt. Michael Valente, Co. D, 107th Inf., when this company's advance on the Knoll, in the Hindenburg Line near Ronssoy, September 29, 1918, was checked, went forward in utter disregard of personal danger to himself, and attacked two machine gun nests that were causing trouble. He made three successful raids upon the position, in the first raid taking 7 prisoners and sending them to the rear. Going back again, with nothing but a "potato masher," he charged this same position, compelling 5 more of the enemy to surrender, and sent them to the rear. In the meantime the enemy had placed a sniper at the end of the trench which Pvt. Valente had to use. Knowing this, he worked his way up another trench and patiently waited for his shot. The enemy, thinking that everything was clear, exposed himself and was killed by Pvt. Valente with rifle fire. The way clear, he returned to the machine gun nest, rushed in and took 5 more prisoners. In charging this position, he forced numbers of Germans to retreat over the top, where they were taken care of by our rifle fire. This soldier was later wounded and evacuated. By his courage and utter disregard for personal safety, he set a fine example to his comrades.