On the 10th of February, 1915, in Big Falls, Wisconsin, Orville was born to a family of German immigrants. They moved to Streeter, North Dakota, to a German neighborhood and even though Orville didn't grow to be taller than 5' 4”, he starred on his high school's basketball and football teams. While his height hadn't stopped him from being an athlete, it was stopping his entry into the military as an officer. He had been denied by the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps after graduating from North Dakota State University in May of 1942. Instead, Orville enlisted in the US Army and worked his way up the rank ladder to eventually become an officer. He was a First Lieutenant with Company E, 338th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division and was deployed to Italy during World War 2. It was his actions during a patrol to eliminate machine gun nests that were holding up his Company's advance that would earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. 1st Lt. Bloch undertook the task of wiping out 5 enemy machinegun nests that had held up the advance in that particular sector for 1 day. Gathering 3 volunteers from his platoon, the patrol snaked their way to a big rock, behind which a group of 3 buildings and 5 machinegun nests were located. Leaving the 3 men behind the rock, he attacked the first machinegun nest alone charging into furious automatic fire, kicking over the machinegun, and capturing the machinegun crew of 5. Pulling the pin from a grenade, he held it ready in his hand and dashed into the face of withering automatic fire toward this second enemy machinegun nest located at the corner of an adjacent building 15 yards distant. When within 20 feet of the machinegun he hurled the grenade, wounding the machinegunner, the other 2 members of the crew fleeing into a door of the house. Calling one of his volunteer group to accompany him, they advanced to the opposite end of the house, there contacting a machinegun crew of 5 running toward this house. 1st Lt Bloch and his men opened fire on the enemy crew, forcing them to abandon this machinegun and ammunition and flee into the same house. Without a moment's hesitation, 1st Lt. Bloch, unassisted, rushed through the door into a hail of small-arms fire, firing his carbine from the hip, and captured the 7 occupants, wounding 3 of them. 1st Lt. Bloch with his men then proceeded to a third house where they discovered an abandoned enemy machinegun and detected another enemy machinegun nest at the next corner of the building. The crew of 6 spotted 1st Lt. Bloch the instant he saw them. Without a moment's hesitation he dashed toward them. The enemy fired pistols wildly in his direction and vanished through a door of the house, 1st Lt. Bloch following them through the door, firing his carbine from the hip, wounding 2 of the enemy and capturing 6. Altogether 1st Lt. Bloch had single-handedly captured 19 prisoners, wounding 6 of them and eliminating a total of 5 enemy machinegun nests. His gallant and heroic actions saved his company many casualties and permitted them to continue the attack with new inspiration and vigor.

Five months later, Orville received the Medal of Honor on his thirtieth birthday. He continued to serve in the Army and had also served in support of the Korean War. Orville was expected to be promoted to Brigadier General but during a physical exam, a serious heart condition was discovered and so he retired as a Colonel in 1970 after twenty-eight years of service. He moved to Manson, Washington where he ran an apple orchard and drove around an old Ford pickup truck that had 300,000 miles on it. He was known to deliver apples to schools that were not well funded until he died on the 28th of May, 1983 at the age of 68. Orville Emil Bloch is buried in the Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park in Seattle, Washington; Section W, Lot 0215, Grave 1. Six other Medal of Honor recipients were present during his funeral and while his Medal of Honor was placed around his neck, no mention of it, or any of his other medals, was made during his service.