Navy Federal Credit Union

Awards Received

  • Distinguished Service Cross

    Service:

    United States Army

    Rank:

    Private

    Batallion:

    1st Battalion

    Regiment:

    357th Infantry Regiment

    Division:

    90th Infantry Division

    Action Date:

    January 24, 1945

    Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army, General Orders No. 275 (September 30, 1945)

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Private Paul W. Kolbert (ASN: 32880781), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as a Gunner with Company D, 1st Battalion, 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, in action near Binsfeld, Luxembourg, on 24 January 1945. Private Kolbert was a gunner on the flank of a newly won and not yet fully organized position when the enemy launched a vicious counterattack. Private Kolbert set up his machine gun on the second floor of a house on the edge of town and, although it was dark, fired on Germany infantrymen approaching the town, knowing the orange and red flashes of his gun would attract the enemy’s fire. When his position became untenable he ordered men to withdraw but he remained and continued to fire upon the enemy. When a shell from an enemy tank smashed the wall beside him, he kept firing until a second shell killed him. His indomitable courage and spirit of supreme sacrifice succeeded in inflicting such casualties upon the enemy that the attack was repulsed. The conduct of Private Kolbert was in conformity with the best traditions of the United States Army.