intelligence officer, took command of the battalion for a day, until relieved by Captain John Hopkins,
Headquarters Company.
During the day of October 25 occurred an incident both dramatic and amusing in its appeal to the
human emotions. Aniello Spamanato, an Italian who had been drafted and was now a private in
Company L, 357th Infantry, found himself, with three other soldiers, on outpost duty just north of
Bourrut. Their position was being harassed by a machine gun manned by six Germans. After killing
one German with a rifle shot, Spamanato suggested to his comrades that they go after the machine gun.
The others being unwilling, the little Italian started out alone. He killed two of the Germans and
captured the remaining three, whom he forced to carry the gun back to our lines. He was allowed to
conduct his prisoners back to division headquarters, and there, in broken English, Spamanato explained
what he had done. For this exploit he was awarded the D. S. C.
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