Lewis Albanese
Lewis was born Luigi in Cornedo Vicentino, a town in Vicenza, Italy, on the 27th of April, 1946. His family immigrated to the states and he went to and graduated from Franklin High School in Seattle, Washington. After school, he briefly worked at Boeing and then enlisted in the US Army on the 26th of October, 1965. Lewis went to Basic Training at Fort Carson in Colorado and was then deployed to the Republic of Vietnam in August of 1966. It was his actions on the 1st of December with Company B, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, that would earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life and beyond the call of duty. Pfc. Albanese's platoon, while advancing through densely covered terrain to establish a blocking position, received intense automatic weapons fire from close range. As other members maneuvered to assault the enemy position, Pfc. Albanese was ordered to provide security for the left flank of the platoon. Suddenly, the left flank received fire from enemy located in a well-concealed ditch. Realizing the imminent danger to his comrades from this fire, Pfc. Albanese fixed his bayonet and moved aggressively into the ditch. His action silenced the sniper fire, enabling the platoon to resume movement toward the main enemy position. As the platoon continued to advance, the sound of heavy firing emanated from the left flank from a pitched battle that ensued in the ditch which Pfc. Albanese had entered. The ditch was actually a well-organized complex of enemy defenses designed to bring devastating flanking fire on the forces attacking the main position. Pfc. Albanese, disregarding the danger to himself, advanced 100 meters along the trench and killed 6 of the snipers, who were armed with automatic weapons. Having exhausted his ammunition, Pfc. Albanese was mortally wounded when he engaged and killed 2 more enemy soldiers in fierce hand-to-hand combat. His unparalleled actions saved the lives of many members of his platoon who otherwise would have fallen to the sniper fire from the ditch, and enabled his platoon to successfully advance against an enemy force of overwhelming numerical superiority. Pfc. Albanese's extraordinary heroism and supreme dedication to his comrades were commensurate with the finest traditions of the military service and remain a tribute to himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
The Medal of Honor was presented to Lewis' family on the 16th of February, 1968, by the Secretary of the Army, Stanley Resor, in a ceremony at the Pentagon. Lewis Albanese is buried in the Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park in Seattle, Washington: Section KO, Lot E, Grave 75. His name appears on Panel 12E, Row 131 on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington DC.
