Lewis Albanese (April 27, 1946 – December 1, 1966), born Luigi Albanese, was an Italian-born

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Private First Class who

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

for his actions during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. Born in Italy, Albanese immigrated to the United States and joined the Army in 1965. During an exercise in the

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of t ...

, Albanese's platoon was under heavy fire from

North Vietnamese North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

positions. Albanese then bayonet charged his way to a enclosed sniper position, where he killed 8 snipers before he was mortally wounded.

Biography

Louie Albanese (in Italian Luigi) was born in Cornedo Vicentino -

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a thr ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and graduated from Franklin High School in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

. He briefly worked for

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before joining the Army on 26 October 1965. He received basic training with B Co 1st Bn 11th Inf at

Fort Carson Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso, Pueblo, Fremont, and Huerfano counties, Colorado, United States. The developed portion of Fort Carson is located near the City of Colorado Springs ...

, Colorado and was sent to Vietnam in August 1966 as part of the 7th Cavalry attached to the 1st Cavalry Division. In December 1966, while on patrol in the

with Company B of the 5th Battalion,1st Cavalry Medi
page
retrieved on March 10, 2007 his unit received heavy fire from concealed enemy positions. During an attempted encirclement of the platoon by the Vietnamese forces, Albanese fixed a bayonet to his weapon and charged the enemy positions. Upon arriving and momentarily silencing the enemy fire, Albanese discovered that the ditch he had charged was a well-entrenched position. He continued 100 metres through the position, killing at least eight enemy snipers despite running out of ammunition, being forced to fight hand to hand, and being mortally wounded. His actions enabled his unit to advance further, and he

received the

, which was presented to his family at

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by Secretary of the Army Stanley Rogers Resor on February 16, 1968. He is buried in Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park and Funeral Home in Seattle, Washington. His name is found on Panel 12E, Row 131 of the

Vietnam War Memorial The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a U.S. national memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring service members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. The site is dominated by two black granite walls engraved with the names of those ...

. In 2014 in his native country town

Cornedo Vicentino Cornedo Vicentino is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is north of SP246. Twin towns Cornedo Vicentino is twinned with: * Sobradinho, Rio Grande do Sul Sobradinho is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande ...

named a street in his honor.street in his name

Medal of Honor citation

Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life and beyond the call of duty. Pfc. Albanese's platoon, while advancing through densely covered terrain to establish a blocking position, received intense automatic weapons fire from close range. As other members maneuvered to assault the enemy position, Pfc. Albanese was ordered to provide security for the left flank of the platoon. Suddenly, the left flank received fire from enemy located in a well-concealed ditch. Realizing the imminent danger to his comrades from this fire, Pfc. Albanese fixed his bayonet and moved aggressively into the ditch. His action silenced the sniper fire, enabling the platoon to resume movement toward the main enemy position. As the platoon continued to advance, the sound of heavy firing emanated from the left flank from a pitched battle that ensued in the ditch which Pfc. Albanese had entered. The ditch was actually a well-organized complex of enemy defenses designed to bring devastating flanking fire on the forces attacking the main position. Pfc. Albanese, disregarding the danger to himself, advanced 100 meters along the trench and killed 6 of the snipers, who were armed with automatic weapons. Having exhausted his ammunition, Pfc. Albanese was mortally wounded when he engaged and killed 2 more enemy soldiers in fierce hand-to-hand combat. His unparalleled actions saved the lives of many members of his platoon who otherwise would have fallen to the sniper fire from the ditch, and enabled his platoon to successfully advance against an enemy force of overwhelming numerical superiority. Pfc. Albanese's extraordinary heroism and supreme dedication to his comrades were commensurate with the finest traditions of the military service and remain a tribute to himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Notes

References

* * * '' Echi di Pianto dall'Indocina Francese'' by Franco Lovato, edited by SGI Edizioni Torino 2013. translated in english book '' Lewis a man, an Hero'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Albanese, Lewis 1946 births 1966 deaths United States Army Medal of Honor recipients American military personnel killed in the Vietnam War United States Army soldiers Foreign-born Medal of Honor recipients Vietnam War recipients of the Medal of Honor Italian emigrants to the United States United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Franklin High School (Seattle) alumni Boeing people People from Vicenza

Biography

Medal of Honor citation

See also

Notes

References