Citation: On his own
initiative, he carried his heavy machinegun from Company K's right
flank to its left, in order to protect that flank which was in danger
of being overrun by advancing enemy infantry supported by tanks.
Occupying a shallow hole offering no protection above his waist, he cut
down a group of 10 Germans. Ignoring enemy fire from an advancing tank,
he held his position and cut down 25 more enemy infantry attempting to
turn his flank. Glancing to his right, he saw a large number of
infantry swarming in from the front. Although dazed and shaken from
enemy artillery fire which had crashed into the ground only a few yards
away, he realized that his position soon would be outflanked. Again,
alone, he carried his machinegun to a position to the right rear of the
sector; enemy tanks and infantry were forcing a withdrawal. Blown over
backward by the concussion of enemy fire, he immediately reset his gun
and continued his fire. Singlehanded he held off the German horde until
he was satisfied his company had effected its retirement. Again he
loaded his gun on his back and in a hail of small-arms fire he ran to a
point where a few of his comrades were attempting to set up another
defense against the onrushing enemy. He fired from this position until
his ammunition was exhausted. Still carrying his gun, he fell back with
his small group to Krinkelt.
Sgt. Lopez's gallantry and intrepidity, on seemingly suicidal missions
in which he killed at least 100 of the enemy, were almost solely
responsible for allowing Company K to avoid being enveloped, to
withdraw successfully and to give other forces coming up in support
time to build a line which repelled the enemy drive.
Medal of
Honor recipient Jose M.
Lopez dies at 94.
By Adam Bernstein Washington Post Staff Writer
" Jose M. Lopez,
94, a retired Army master sergeant who received the
Medal of Honor for engaging in a series of "seemingly suicidal
missions" during the Battle of the Bulge, died May 16 at a daughter's
home in San Antonio. He had cancer.
Sgt. Lopez was born in Mexico, orphaned when he was 8 and worked
in a series of subsistence jobs. A short but sinewy man, he boxed
lightweight for many years in his youth. After a series of seafaring
misadventures - he once was stranded at sea for weeks on a cargo boat
with nothing to eat but a cache of bananas - he enlisted in the Army
during World War II.
He landed at Normandy a day after the June 6, 1944, invasion, and
a bullet smacked into his ammunition belt, grazing his hip.
"I was really very, very afraid,'' he told journalist Bill Moyers
for a television special in 1990. "I wanted to cry, and we saw other
people laying wounded and screaming and everything, and there's
nothing you could do. We could see them groaning in the water, and we
had to just keep walking.''
At dawn on Dec. 17, 1944, he and his men were outside Krinkelt,
Belgium, shortly after the start of the German offensive through the
Ardennes known as the Battle of the Bulge.
Lugging a heavy machine gun, Sgt. Lopez climbed into a shallow,
snow-covered hole that left everything above his waist exposed. He
heard the rumbling of a tank, which he figured was American; an Allied
soldier a few hundreds yards away had failed to signal him of
approaching danger.
When he saw the German Tiger tank come into sight and the horde of
German foot soldiers around it, he thought of dozens of his men just a
few hundred yards away. Aiming at the soldiers around the tank, he
killed 10 of them. That prompted the Tiger tank to fire rather
recklessly in his direction. It took three shell blasts to knock Sgt.
Lopez over, and he suffered a concussion.
He nevertheless repositioned himself to prevent enemy soldiers
from outflanking him, resetting his gun and killing 25 more Germans.
Allowing time for his comrades to retreat to a safer position, he
then dashed through the dense and protective forest and avoided
contact with a cascade of enemy small-arms fire.
Eventually, the Americans fell back to Krinkelt and held out
through the night. The Germans bypassed the town.
A few months later, Gen. James A. Van Fleet presented Sgt. Lopez
with the Medal of Honor. The citation recognized the "seemingly
suicidal missions in which he killed at least 100 of the enemy . . .
[and which] were almost solely responsible for allowing Company K to
avoid being enveloped, to withdraw successfully and to give other
forces coming up in support time to build a line which repelled the
enemy drive."
Jose Mendoza Lopez was born July 10, 1910. He never knew his exact
birth town but was raised in Veracruz. His father was gone; his mother
said he had drowned. She died of tuberculosis. With other relatives
dead or unable to support him, he made his way to Texas and settled in
the Rio Grande Valley town of Mission. There, a family let him sleep
in their shed and fed him. His Medal of Honor citation lists Mission
as his birthplace. He spent time hooking rides on freight trains, and
at 17 found himself in Atlanta. Standing 5 feet 5 inches and weighing
130 pounds, he nevertheless fought and pummeled a much bigger man.
A boxing manager who witnessed the beating trained the newly named
"Kid Mendoza" and saw him through 52 victories and three losses.
Sgt. Lopez once said the greatest moment of his boxing career was
meeting Babe Ruth, who attended one bout in Atlanta and shook hands
with the contenders before the first bell.
In 1936, he joined the U.S. Merchant Marine and held other
maritime jobs.
After his World War II service, he fought in Korea until a ranking
officer heard that a Medal of Honor recipient was in battle. He was
ordered to the rear and spent months picking up bodies and registering
them for burial.
He later was a recruiter, mowed lawns and plowed snow. He was
placed in charge of a motor pool and oversaw large crews of
maintenance personnel. He retired in 1973.
To maintain his physique, Sgt. Lopez jogged until age 88. He also
saw a trainer three times a week, a regimen that ended three month ago
as his illness worsened.
His wife of 62 years, Emilia Herrera Lopez, died in February 2004.
Survivors include five children, Candida "Marie" Pieratti of
Mahopac, N.Y., Virginia Rogers of Ogden, Utah, Beatrice Pedraza of
Lima, Peru, and John Lopez and Maggie Wickwire, both of San Antonio;
19 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.
|
