Davila, Rudolph B.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant,
U.S. Army, Company H, 7th Infantry. Place and date: Artena, Italy, 28 May, 1944. Born:
27 April 1916, El Paso, TX Entered service at: Los Angeles, Calif.
Citation:
Staff Sergeant Rudolph B. Davila distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action,
on 28 May 1944, near Artena, Italy. During the offensive which broke through the German
mountain strongholds surrounding the Anzio beachhead, Staff Sergeant Davila risked death
to provide heavy weapons support for a beleaguered rifle company. Caught on an exposed
hillside by heavy, grazing fire from a well-entrenched German force, his machine gunners
were reluctant to risk putting their guns into action. Crawling fifty yards to the nearest
machine gun, Staff Sergeant Davila set it up alone and opened fire on the enemy. In order
to observe the effect of his fire, Sergeant Davila fired from the kneeling position,
ignoring the enemy fire that struck the tripod and passed between his legs. Ordering a
gunner to take over, he crawled forward to a vantage point and directed the firefight with
hand and arm signals until both hostile machine guns were silenced. Bringing his three
remaining machine guns into action, he drove the enemy to a reserve position two hundred
yards to the rear. When he received a painful wound in the leg, he dashed to a burned tank
and, despite the crash of bullets on the hull, engaged a second enemy force from the
tank’s turret. Dismounting, he advanced 130 yards in short rushes, crawled 20 yards
and charged into an enemy-held house to eliminate the defending force of five with a hand
grenade and rifle fire. Climbing to the attic, he straddled a large shell hole in the wall
and opened fire on the enemy. Although the walls of the house were crumbling, he continued
to fire until he had destroyed two more machine guns. His intrepid actions brought
desperately needed heavy weapons support to a hard-pressed rifle company and silenced four
machine gunners, which forced the enemy to abandon their prepared positions. Staff
Sergeant Davila's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the
highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the
United States Army.
