Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Technical Sergeant

Unit:

Company I, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division "Indianhead", U.S. Army

Awarded on:

June 11th, 1945

"For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Company I, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces in France, on 1 September 1944. On that date, near Fourneuf, France, Sergeant Averitte led his platoon in a courageous charge on strongly-defended German positions. He killed three enemy soldiers with his bayonet, fearlessly pressed forward in an endeavor to establish contact with the left assault platoon and assisted in wiping out several Germans defending an important tunnel leading to the road. The next day his body was found, surrounded by three of the enemy he had killed single-handedly in a fight to the death. Technical Sergeant Averitte's heroic, aggressive actions and supreme devotion to duty at the cost of his life, exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 2d Infantry Division, and the United States Army."

Headquarters, Third U.S. Army, General Orders No. 137. Posthumously awarded.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)