*BROSTROM, LEONARD C.
Rank and organization: Private First
Class, U.S. Army, Company F, 17th Infantry, 7th Infantry Division. Place and date:
Near Dagami, Leyte, Philippine Islands, 28 October 1944. Entered service at:
Preston, Idaho. Birth: Preston, Idaho. G.O. No.: 104, 15 November 1945.
Citation:
He was a rifleman with an assault platoon which ran into powerful resistance near Dagami,
Leyte, Philippine Islands, on 28 October 1944. From pillboxes, trenches, and spider holes,
so well camouflaged that they could be detected at no more than 20 yards, the enemy poured
machinegun and rifle fire, causing severe casualties in the platoon. Realizing that a key
pillbox in the center of the strong point would have to be knocked out if the company were
to advance, Pfc. Bostrom, without orders and completely ignoring his own safety, ran
forward to attack the pillbox with grenades. He immediately became the prime target for
all the riflemen in the area, as he rushed to the rear of the pillbox and tossed grenades
through the entrance. Six enemy soldiers left a trench in a bayonet charge against the
heroic American, but he killed 1 and drove the others off with rifle fire. As he threw
more grenades from his completely exposed position he was wounded several times in the
abdomen and knocked to the ground. Although suffering intense pain and rapidly weakening
from loss of blood, he slowly rose to his feet and once more hurled his deadly missiles at
the pillbox. As he collapsed, the enemy began fleeing from the fortification and were
killed by riflemen of his platoon. Pfc. Brostrom died while being carried from the
battlefield, but his intrepidity and unhesitating willingness to sacrifice himself in a
l-man attack against overwhelming odds enabled his company to reorganize against attack,
and annihilate the entire enemy position.
