Posted on 12/23/2016 6:32:23 PM PST by Coleus
PARAMUS ― Nicholas Oresko was soldier of slender build and small stature ― he stood about 5 feet 7 inches ― but his heroics were the stuff of legend. A recipient of the Medal of Honor, he survived enemy fire and killed a dozen German soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.
“Nick changed the course of the war,” said Joe Cutolo, commander of American Legion Post 21 in Cresskill. “When I got to know him, he said he got up on that morning, looked up and said, ‘God, I’m cold and tired. If I die, take me quickly.’ When he threw in that grenade, he started it all. Heroes are not born. They’re made on the battleground, sometimes from fear and anxiety. Nick probably shortened the war for America. We should never forget him.”
On Wednesday, members of American Legion Post 21 in Cresskill gathered at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, where a Christmas wreath was placed atop Oresko’s grave. The event was organized in coordination with Wreaths Across America, a national non-profit that promotes the laying of wreaths at the graves of veterans at Arlington National Cemetery and more than 1,000 additional locations nationwide.
The post members read a proclamation from President Harry Truman, who presented Oresko with the Medal of Honor in October 1945, just after the end of World War II. Dick Maloney read “Patton’s Prayer,” John Calabrese played taps on a bugle, Dick Waddell handled the wreath placement, and about a dozen post members recalled Oresko and his remarkable life.
Born in Bayonne, Oresko lived in Tenafly for many years before his death at age 96 in 2013. “He had a small stature, and he was a man with a big heart, came from Russian immigrants,”
(Excerpt) Read more at northjersey.com ...
Amen!
That snowflake lived to 96. Wonder how long a pajama boy will live to?
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