Stationed at Italy's Anzio beachhead with his platoon in February 1944, Cpl. Paul Bert Huff volunteered to lead a six-man patrol through open, rolling fields under enemy machine gunfire on a mission to find the location of enemy troops.
Facing heavy fire, Huff directed his patrol back to a creek as he advanced alone through a minefield. He crawled to the nearest machine gun 75 yards away, killed the crew with his submachine gun, and then destroyed the Germans' machine gun nest.
Returning to his patrol, Huff guided his six men back to safety and was able to share information about the enemy troops which the Allies then used to rout the rest of the German troops stationed there.
When he returned to report his mission complete, his commanding officer told him he'd been nominated for the medal for his actions. During World War II, Medal of Honor recipients were sent back to the United States to rally at-home morale and raise money for war bonds. There, Huff went on a 38-state tour with an Army aerial show, making two parachute jumps in each state.
In 1958, Huff served as command sergeant major of the famed 101st Airborne Division during his deployment in Vietnam.
Before Huff's death in 1994, his native Cleveland designated a major thoroughfare of I-75 as Paul B. Huff Parkway in his honor. He is buried in Hillcrest Memorial Gardens in Cleveland.
Sources: 509thgeronimo.org, East Tennessee Veterans Memorial Association, Medal of Honor Convention