WWII · Battle Death Record
Sylvester Antolak
Sergeant, U.S. Army · Ohio
Medal of Honor
Personnel File — Core Information
- Name
- Sylvester Antolak
- Entered the Service From
- Ohio
- Rank
- Sergeant
- Service
- U.S. Army
- Unit / Regiment
- 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division
- War
- WWII
- Date of Death
- May 24, 1944
- Awards
- Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Combat Infantryman Badge
- Burial / Memorial
- Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial, Nettuno, Italy
- Grave
- Plot C, Row 12, Grave 13
Their story
On May 24, 1944, near Cisterna di Littoria, Italy, during the Anzio breakout, Sgt. Antolak charged 200 yards over flat, open terrain under heavy enemy fire, and though knocked down and his right arm shattered, he continued the assault with his submachine gun braced against his side, killing two and capturing ten Germans at one strongpoint. Refusing aid, he led his squad against a second position where he was killed, but his supreme sacrifice cleared the path for his company's advance. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.
This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.