Laurent I. Lavallee

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to Sergeant Laurent I. Lavallee, Infantry, Company B, 104th Infantry, United States Army, for gallantry in action near Achen, France, on 8 December 1944. On the afternoon of 8 December 1944, the First Battalion, 104th Infantry, successfully attacked and seized a series of forts north and northeast of the town of Achen on the Maginot Line. During these operations and after it was concluded, the left flank of the battalion was under the fire of Fort Haute Poirier, located in the zone of another unit and still firmly held by the enemy. The battalion commander called for volunteers to accompany him in an attempt to reduce Fort Haute Poirier. Sergeant Lavallee, assistant squad leader of Company B, volunteered to join the small assault group, and armed himself with an automatic rifle. Making their was [sic] forward under direct fire from the concrete fort and concealed enemy machine gun nests around it, the group interdicted the embrasures of the fort with accurate machine gun and automatic rifle fire, and then moved in at close range and sealed off the embrasure with bazooka fire. The entire group then advanced through the barbed wire obstacle to assault the fort itself, employing flame throwers and rifle and chemical grenades to knock out an 88mm gun position and capture the entire fort, resulting in the surrender of nineteen enemy soldiers and one officer, and saving the battalion for the enfilading fire from its flank. Although wounded in the course of this heroic action, Sergeant Lavalle(e) courageously maintained his forward position with the assault group. His outstanding courage under fire, his initiative and unusual devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon Sergeant Lavallee and the armed forces of the United States.