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Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company E, 20th
Infantry, 6th Infantry Division. Place and date: Munoz, Luzon, Philippine
Islands, 5 February 1945. Entered service at: Minneapolis, Minn. Birth:
South Haven, Minn. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: 2d Lt. Rudolph
(then T/Sgt.) was acting as platoon leader at Munoz, Luzon, Philippine
Islands. While administering first aid on the battlefield, he observed
enemy fire issuing from a nearby culvert. Crawling to the culvert with
rifle and grenades, he killed 3 of the enemy concealed there. He then worked
his way across open terrain toward a line of enemy pillboxes which had
immobilized his company. Nearing the first pillbox, he hurled a grenade
through its embrasure and charged the position. With his bare hands he
tore away the wood and tin covering, then dropped a grenade through the
opening, killing the enemy gunners and destroying their machinegun. Ordering
several riflemen to cover his further advance, 2d Lt. Rudolph seized a
pick mattock and made his way to the second pillbox. Piercing its top with
the mattock, he dropped a grenade through the hole, fired several rounds
from his rifle into it and smothered any surviving enemy by sealing the
hole and the embrasure with earth. In quick succession he attacked and
neutralized 6 more pillboxes. Later, when his platoon was attacked by an
enemy tank, he advanced under covering fire, climbed to the top of the
tank and dropped a white phosphorus grenade through the turret, destroying
the crew. Through his outstanding heroism, superb courage, and leadership,
and complete disregard for his own safety, 2d Lt. Rudolph cleared a path
for an advance which culminated in one of the most decisive victories of
the Philippine campaign.
This data was extracted from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. Senate, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863-1973 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1973)
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