First Lieutenant Robert Nett led a successful hand-to-hand attack on enemy forces holding up the American advance into Leyte, Philippines, on December 14, 1944. He was awarded the Medal of Honor on February 8, 1946, in his birthplace of New Haven, Connecticut.
His Medal of Honor Citation reads:
He commanded Company E in an attack against a reinforced enemy battalion which had held up the American advance for 2 days from its entrenched positions around a 3-story concrete building. With another infantry company and armored vehicles, Company E advanced against heavy machinegun and other automatic weapons fire with Lt. Nett spearheading the assault against the strongpoint. During the fierce hand-to-hand encounter which ensued, he killed 7 deeply entrenched Japanese with his rifle and bayonet and, although seriously wounded, gallantly continued to lead his men forward, refusing to relinquish his command. Again he was severely wounded, but, still unwilling to retire, pressed ahead with his troops to assure the capture of the objective. Wounded once more in the final assault, he calmly made all arrangements for the resumption of the advance, turned over his command to another officer, and then walked unaided to the rear for medical treatment. By his remarkable courage in continuing forward through sheer determination despite successive wounds, Lt. Nett provided an inspiring example for his men and was instrumental in the capture of a vital strongpoint.
Robert Nett enlisted in the Army National Guard at age 17 in 1940 after creasing his birth certificate, obscuring his true year of birth. Nett continued to serve in the Army after World War 2, continuing to serve both in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Robert Burton Nett passed away on October 19, 2008.
You can read more about Medal of Honor reciptions in the Medal of Honor book: Revised & Updated Third Edition: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty.
