On November 10, 1943 Lt. Maurice Lee Britt inspired and led a handful of his men in repelling a bitter counterattack by approximately 100 Germans against his company positions north of Mignano, Italy.
During the intense fire fight, a bullet pierced his side; his chest, face, and hands were covered with grenade wounds. Despite his wounds, he personally killed 5 and wounded an unknown number of Germans, wiped out one enemy machinegun crew and threw 32 grenades. His actions also enabled several captured Americans to escape.
For his actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the British Military Cross, the Italian Military Medal for Valor, and a battlefield promotion to captain.
After recovering from his wounds, he led his men at Anzio in 1944. On January 23, in one instance, he did calisthenics in order to get a hidden German machine gun position to expose itself so it could be destroyed. On the 26th, he lost part of his arm during another assault where he earned the Distinguished Service Cross...on top of his 4 Purple Hearts, Silver Star and Bronze Star with V.
After the war, he spent 20 years working at a furniture manufacturing company and also became the Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas in 1966. Britt passed away in 1995 at the age of 75.
Maurice Britt became the first recipient of the top four combat decorations for valor awarded to an infantryman by the US Army during World War II. During the Sicily campaign, his battalion (3rd BN, 30th Inf., 3rd ID) executed one of the longest foot marches in modern military history, from near Gela northward to Palermo; marching a total of 54 miles in only 33 hours.
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