Ernest William Prussman was born on September 15, 1921, in Baltimore, City of Baltimore, Maryland. He was the son of Herbert Prussman and Helen Prussman. He graduated from the Edison School in the Boston Public Schools system. Before entering military service, Prussman worked as a clerk for a chain store and lived on Parsons Street in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in October 1942. He served as a Private First Class with the 13th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, and first entered combat in France in July 1944.

On September 8, 1944, during fighting near Loscoat in Brittany, he advanced of his unit, single-handedly captured several German soldiers, and destroyed an enemy machine-gun position. He was mortally wounded while continuing the assault. Prussman was subsequently buried at the Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial in Saint-James, France. He also has a cenotaph in the Saint Joseph Cemetery, West Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA. n April 19, 1945, Prussman was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary heroism.

Medal of Honor Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty on September 8, 1944, near Les Coates,[a] Brittany, France. When the advance of the flank companies of 2 battalions was halted by intense enemy mortar, machinegun, and sniper fire from a fortified position on his left, Pfc. Prussman maneuvered his squad to assault the enemy fortifications. Hurdling a hedgerow, he came upon 2 enemy riflemen whom he disarmed. After leading his squad across an open field to the next hedgerow, he advanced to a machinegun position, destroyed the gun, captured its crew and 2 riflemen. Again advancing ahead of his squad in the assault, he was mortally wounded by an enemy rifleman, but as he fell to the ground he threw a handgrenade, killing his opponent. His superb leadership and heroic action at the cost of his life so demoralized the enemy that resistance at this point collapsed, permitting the 2 battalions to continue their advance.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, en.wikipedia.org