Mike Colalillo

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US Army Medal of Honor recipient (1925–2011)

title: "Mike Colalillo" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1925-births", "2011-deaths", "people-from-hibbing,-minnesota", "united-states-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "united-states-army-medal-of-honor-recipients", "united-states-army-soldiers", "world-war-ii-recipients-of-the-medal-of-honor"] description: "US Army Medal of Honor recipient (1925–2011)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Colalillo" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary US Army Medal of Honor recipient (1925–2011) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military person"]

Field	Value
name	Mike Colalillo
birth_date
death_date
birth_place	Hibbing, Minnesota, US
death_place	Duluth, Minnesota, US
placeofburial	Forest Hill Cemetery, Duluth, Minnesota
placeofburial_label	Place of burial
image	Mike Colalillo.jpg
caption	Mike Colalillo, Medal of Honor recipient
allegiance	United States
branch	United States Army
rank	Sergeant
unit	1st Battalion, 398th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division
battles	World War II
awards	Medal of Honor
Silver Star
Bronze Star
Purple Heart
::

Battle of Buchhof and Stein am Kocher |awards=Medal of Honor Silver Star Bronze Star Purple Heart |relations= |laterwork=

Michael Colalillo (December 2, 1925 – December 30, 2011) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decorationthe Medal of Honorfor his actions during World War II.

Early life

Colalillo was born on December 1, 1925, in Hibbing, Minnesota to Italian parents who had immigrated to the U.S. shortly before his birth. Colalillo was the eighth of nine children. His family struggled financially throughout the years mainly due to the Great Depression. He grew up in a tough neighborhood in western Duluth, Minnesota. In his teenage years, Colalillo attended Denfeld High School but dropped out before graduating in order to help support his family by working at a local bakery after the passing of his mother.

Military service

Colalillo joined the Army from Duluth, Minnesota in February 1944, and was serving as a private first class in Company C, 398th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division, that was deployed in the Western Allied invasion of Germany. On April 7, 1945, his unit fought Waffen-SS forces in the Battle of Buchhof and Stein am Kocher near Untergriesheim, Germany. Colalillo encouraged his comrades to follow him into enemy fire, manned an exposed machine gun, and helped a wounded soldier back to friendly lines. For his actions during the battle, he was awarded the Medal of Honor on January 9, 1946.{{cite web |publisher=United States Army Center of Military History |title=Medal of Honor recipients – World War II (A–F) |work=Medal of Honor citations |date=June 8, 2009 |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/wwII-a-f.html |accessdate=2007-08-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616211617/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/wwII-a-f.html |archivedate=June 16, 2008

Post military service

After his discharge from the Army, Colalillo moved back to Duluth, Minnesota, where he married Lina Nissila on November 16, 1945. The couple had two daughters and a son. In 1946, Colalillo was employed by the Interlake Iron Company as a coal dump laborer and in 1950 he suffered a serious injury when his hand was caught on a conveyor belt which caused permanent damage, making his hand nearly useless. After his injury, Colalillo worked as a longshoreman, and in 1987, he retired from the Duluth Port Authority.

Death

Colalillo died on December 30, 2011, at the Ecumen Bayshore Care Center. He is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Duluth, Minnesota. He was Minnesota's last living Medal of Honor recipient.

Medal of Honor

::quote[attribution="130px"] [[File:Moh army mil.jpg ::

Citation:

::quote The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Private Michael "Mike" Colalillo, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty on 7 April 1945, while serving with Company C, 1st Battalion, 398th Infantry, 100th Infantry Division. Private Colalillo was pinned down with other members of his company during an attack against strong enemy positions in the vicinity of Untergriesheim, Germany. Heavy artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire made any move hazardous when he stood up, shouted to the company to follow, and ran forward in the wake of a supporting tank, firing his machine pistol. Inspired by his example, his comrades advanced in the face of savage enemy fire. When his weapon was struck by shrapnel and rendered useless, he climbed to the deck of a friendly tank, manned an exposed machine gun on the turret of the vehicle, and, while bullets rattled about him, fired at an enemy emplacement with such devastating accuracy that he killed or wounded at least ten hostile soldiers and destroyed their machine gun. Maintaining his extremely dangerous post as the tank forged ahead, he blasted three more positions, destroyed another machine gun emplacement and silenced all resistance in his area, killing at least three and wounding an undetermined number of riflemen as they fled. His machine gun eventually jammed; so he secured a submachine gun from the tank crew to continue his attack on foot. When our armored forces exhausted their ammunition and the order to withdraw was given, he remained behind to help a seriously wounded comrade over several hundred yards of open terrain rocked by an intense enemy artillery and mortar barrage. By his intrepidity and inspiring courage Private First Class Colalillo gave tremendous impetus to his company's attack, killed or wounded 25 of the enemy in bitter fighting, and assisted a wounded soldier in reaching the American lines at great risk of his own life. }}

==Awards and decorations== SGT Colalillo was awarded throughout his military career the following: {| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;" | colspan="3" |[[File:Combat_Infantry_Badge.svg|alt=A metal device depicting a blue bar with a rifle, in front of a wreath of silver leaves.|center|250x250px]] |-

colspan="3"

| | | |- | | | |} {| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;" |- !Badge |colspan="12"|Combat Infantryman Badge |- !1st row |colspan="5"|Medal of Honor |colspan="5"|Silver Star |- !2nd row |colspan="4"|Bronze Star with 1 Oak leaf cluster (2 awards) |colspan="4"|Purple Heart |colspan="4"|Army Good Conduct Medal |- !3rd row |colspan="4"|American Campaign Medal |colspan="4"|European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 Campaign stars |colspan="4"|World War II Victory Medal |- |}

==Gallary==

File:Mike Colalillo Citation.jpg|Citation File:Mike Colalillo Memorial Pic.jpg|President Truman presenting award File:Mike Colalillo Wall brick.jpg|Mike Colalillo Brick File:MikeColalilloDrive.jpg|Mike Colalillo Drive Duluth, Mn File:Mike Colalillo Brick.jpg|Duluth Memorial

==See also==

List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II

==References==

==External links== * * * *

Home of Heroes profile

[[Category:1925 births]] [[Category:2011 deaths]] [[Category:People from Hibbing, Minnesota]] [[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]] [[Category:United States Army Medal of Honor recipients]] [[Category:United States Army soldiers]] [[Category:World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor]] ::

References

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