DOB/DOD: March 20, 1912 (West Haven, CT) – October 20, 1980 (West Haven, CT); 68 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married to Virginia R. Leake (1917-2003) on June 10, 1939, in West Haven, Connecticut
CHILDREN: One son, Peter W. (1945-2022). One daughter, Susan Soderman Sandrock (1948-1998).
ENLISTMENT: August 23, 1943, in New Haven, Connecticut
SERVICE NUMBER: 31405086
FAMILY: Born to Gustave L. [born in Sweden] (1884-1961) and Anna L. Peterson Soderman [born in Finland] (1893-1972). One sister, Anna “Florence” Soderman Carlson Johnson (1918-2003).
OTHER: In e-mails with Jude Soderman Chewning, granddaughter of PFC Soderman, she shared that he built his own home at 35 Sorenson Road in West Haven. “Pop Pop had help from his father-in-law during construction, putting up a few beams in the basement, but, according to my dad, Pop pop built everything else by himself. He also made a lot of their furniture. He made arched doorways leading into the living and dining rooms as well as all the cabinets, a screened porch, etc.”
MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION
AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING: World War II
BRANCH OF SERVICE: Army
UNIT: Company K, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division
GENERAL ORDERS: War Department, General Orders No. 97 (November 1, 1945)
AGE ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT: 32
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Private First Class William Adolph Soderman, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company K, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. Armed with a bazooka, Private First Class Soderman defended a key road junction near Rocherath, Belgium, on 17 December 1944, during the German Ardennes counteroffensive. After a heavy artillery barrage had wounded and forced the withdrawal of his assistant, he heard enemy tanks approaching the position where he calmly waited in the gathering darkness of early evening until the five Mark V tanks which made up the hostile force were within point blank range. He then stood up, completely disregarding the firepower that could be brought to bear upon him, and launched a rocket into the lead tank, setting it afire and forcing its crew to abandon it as the other tanks pressed on before Private First Class Soderman could reload. The daring bazooka man remained at his post all night under severe artillery, mortar, and machinegun fire, awaiting the next onslaught, which was made shortly after dawn by five more tanks. Running along a ditch to meet them, he reached an advantageous point and there leaped to the road in full view of the tank gunners, deliberately aimed his weapon, and disabled the lead tank. The other vehicles, thwarted by a deep ditch in their attempt to go around the crippled machine, withdrew. While returning to his post, Private First Class Soderman, braving heavy fire to attack an enemy infantry platoon from close range, killed at least three Germans and wounded several others with a round from his bazooka. By this time, enemy pressure had made Company K’s position untenable. Orders were issued for withdrawal to an assembly area, where Private First Class Soderman was located, when he once more heard enemy tanks approaching. Knowing that elements of the company had not completed their disengaging maneuver and were consequently extremely vulnerable to an armored attack, he hurried from his comparatively safe position to meet the tanks. Once more, he disabled the lead tank with a single rocket, his last, but before he could reach cover, machinegun bullets from the tank ripped into his right shoulder. Unarmed and seriously wounded, he dragged himself along a ditch to the American lines and was evacuated. Through his unfaltering courage against overwhelming odds, Private First Class Soderman contributed in great measure to the defense of Rocherath, exhibiting to a superlative degree the intrepidity and heroism with which American soldiers met and smashed the savage power of the last great German offensive.
Presentation Date and Details: October 12, 1945, at the White House, presented by President Harry S. Truman
William Soderman’s Medal of Honor. On display in the West Haven Veterans Museum, 30 Hood Terrace, West Haven, Connecticut. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
Press Release
WAR DEPARTMENT
Bureau of Public Relations
PRESS BRANCH
Tel. RE 7600, Brs. 3425 and 4860
SIS Release C-531
FUTURE RELEASE
An infantry bazooka gunner, Private First Class William A. Soderman of West Haven, Connecticut, has been awarded the Medal of Honor, the War Department announced today, in recognition of outstanding heroism when he stood alone against enemy tanks, knocking out three of them, last December 17 and 18 during the furious German Ardennes counteroffensive.
The 33-year-old Private’s heroic action contributed greatly to the defense of Rocherath, Belgium, while his comrades of the 2nd Infantry “Indian Head” Division were fighting a defensive battle against the rejuvenated German army.
Private Soderman’s assistant gunner had been wounded during the heavy artillery barrage while the two Company K, 9th Infantry Regiment, soldiers were defending a key road junction leading to the town of Rocherath.
Private Meredith E. Oliver, Route 3, Box 51, Indianapolis, Indiana, was one of two men who observed Private Soderman’s gallant stand against Nazi tanks on three separate occasions.
“Rather than abandon his position, even though his assistant was wounded,” Private Oliver related, “Private Soderman decided to remain at his post alone to prevent enemy tanks from penetrating the position and endangering the town.
“Soon, five Mark V ‘Panther’ tanks came into sight, and with utter disregard for his personal safety, Private Soderman stood up when the lead tank was opposite him and fired his bazooka into the bogie wheels, disabling the tank. My companion and I killed the German tank crew as they climbed out of the vehicle.
The daring bazookaman remained at his post all night under severe artillery, mortar, and machinegun fire, awaiting the next onslaught, which came shortly after dawn. The early morning action was described by Private James Shuttleworth, Route 3, Box 149, Grafton, West Virginia, and the other riflemen who witnessed the man versus machine battle.
“The next morning, five more Panther tanks rumbled into view through the fog,” Private Shuttleworth revealed. When the lead tank came abreast of Private Soderman, he jumped out on the road and fired point blank, shattering the tracks. I saw the four remaining tanks, unable to get by the wrecked vehicle because of a deep ditch, turn around and head back in the direction from which they came.”
“While returning to his post, Private Soderman, braving heavy fire to attack an enemy infantry platoon from close range, killed at least three Germans and wounded several others with a round from his trusty bazooka.
Once more, during that second day, Private Soderman heard enemy tanks approaching. Knowing that elements of his company had not yet completed their withdrawal and were highly vulnerable to an armored attack, the Connecticut Yankee sallied forth once again from his comparatively safe position to meet the tanks. Once more, he disabled the lead tank with a single rocket, his last.
But before he could reach cover, machinegun bullets from the tank ripped into his right shoulder. Unarmed and seriously wounded, Private Soderman dragged himself along a ditch to the American lines.
Privates Oliver and Shuttleworth turned in this report to their commanding officer:
“At no time during our two days with him did Private Soderman show fear but was always grim and determined in his efforts to halt the enemy tanks. All throughout the battle, Private Soderman displayed heroism that far exceeded the deeds of an ordinary soldier. If it were not for his cool and courageous acts, we are certain that our position and probably that of the entire unit would have been overrun.”
“The heroic soldier was born March 20, 1912, in West Haven. His wife, Virginia, resides at 548 First Avenue, and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gustave Soderman, at 203 First Avenue in West Haven. He entered the Army on September 13, 1943, at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.
Unknown newspaper clipping found in the archives at the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Used with permission.
MANY MOURN SODERMAN
WEST HAVEN – The telephone rang early Tuesday morning. It was a call Peter Nugent would rather not have received.
Nugent, retired veterans affairs coordinator, is known by thousands of area veterans, having helped many of them obtain military benefits some may never have received without that aid.
One of those soldiers, Private First Class William A. Soderman, who went on to become West Haven’s only Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, earning the country’s highest military award during the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium in 1944.
A tall, rugged individual and stalwart tackle on the 1931 football team at West Haven High School, Soderman single-handedly defended a key road junction, killed three German soldiers, wounded several others, disabled a lead attack tank, and forced others to take cover and retreat as he fired a bazooka with deadly precision.
Soderman died Monday night in the Veterans Administration Hospital, where he worked for many years. News of his death spread quickly throughout the city, and those who knew him were deeply saddened.
Mayor Robert Johnson ordered the flags in front of City Hall and on the Green flown at half-staff.
“I’m deeply saddened by Bill’s death,” said Nugent.
A retired member of the Veterans’ Administration staff, Nugent recalled his first meeting with Soderman when he appeared before the draft board and was inducted.
Perhaps Nugent remembered best the parade and the thousands of people who turned out on November 4, 1945, to pay tribute to the returning Medal of Honor winner. Nugent served as chairman for the event, “Bill Soderman Day,” which was proclaimed by then-First Selectman Elmer Scranton.
The bunting flew on city buildings, and flags flapped in the chilly winds as a steady rain fell, but the clouds did not disrupt the ceremonies and day for a returning hero.
The townspeople, through Nugent, gave Soderman and his wife a substantial monetary gift to get the young couple started on a new life.
President Harry Turman presented the medal at a White House ceremony on October 12, 1945.
Nugent worked with Soderman for 15 years and was responsible for getting him into the Veterans Administration and later assigned to the hospital here.
“He was quiet, unassuming, and shunned publicity,” Nugent said Tuesday, his voice choking, “I’ve lost a real friend.”
Johnson said the city is saddened by the loss of our “most famous veteran and leading citizen – Bill Soderman.”
Soderman shared a spot on the reviewing stand last Memorial Day with the mayor, and according to Johnson, Soderman said “too much fuss was being made over him,” and he was embarrassed.
Those who knew Soderman at the hospital were shocked and saddened by his passing.
Paul Eule, assistant chief of staff there, called Soderman a “loyal veteran and one who was dedicated and did a tremendous job.
“I remember,” Eule said, “when Bill was called from Washington, and he didn’t want to go to receive his award. It took a lot of effort to make him go.”
Everyone who knew Soderman said the same…. – humble, quiet, unassuming, and dedicated.
Soderman made many friends with the community and in his role as an adviser to men in the military, a job for which he was tutored by his closest friend, Nugent.
Funeral services will be private for Mr. Soderman, 68, of 35 Sorenson Road. He was the husband of Virginia Leake Soderman.
A Masonic service by the Annawon Lodge No. 115 AF& AM will be conducted this evening at 7:30 at West Haven Funeral Home at the Green. Burial will be in the family plot in Oak Grove Cemetery, West Haven. Memorial donations may be made to the Masonic Home and Hospital, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, or to the First Congregational Church of West Haven on the Green Book of Remembrance.
Mr. Soderman was born in West Haven on March 20, 1912, the son of the late Gustave A. and Anna Pettersson Soderman.
Besides his wife, he leaves a son, Peter Soderman of Wallingford; a daughter, Susan L. Soderman of Baltimore, Maryland; a sister, Florence Carlson of New Britain; and two grandchildren.
Document found in the archives at the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Used with permission.
IN MEMORIAM:
WILLIAM A, SODERMAN, U.S. ARMY-WWII
On Tuesday, October 20, 1980, William Soderman of West Haven, CT, died. The following article, reprinted from the New Haven Register of December 19, 1976, was the last comprehensive interview Soderman granted.
Thirty-two years ago, last Friday, Army Private William A. Soderman sat in a foxhole in a snowy field clutching a bazooka, waiting in silence for the German tanks.
He had no way of knowing that in the next 12 hours, he would earn the Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the Belgian Croix de Guerre, and the Belgian Order of Leopold.
He waited calmly, thinking about death – his own – and the four remaining bazooka rockets he had.
The silence was broken at sunset with the sound of approaching German tanks. As the first passed only feet away, he jumped from his foxhole and launched a rocket at the lead tank, setting it afire.
Soderman dove back into the foxhole, reloaded, and waited as the remaining tanks withdrew. Hours passed, and shortly before sunrise, the Germans launched their second attack. As five more tanks approached, Soderman ran along a ditch, leaped onto the road, and fired at the first tank, disabling it and again forcing the other tanks to retreat.
Now under infantry fire himself, Soderman ran back to his position. With his third bazooka rocket, he killed at least three German soldiers and wounded others. By now, his company, K of the 9th Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division, had been ordered to retreat, but in the distance, Soderman heard yet more tanks coming.
Knowing his troops were vulnerable, he ran from his safe position and, with his last rocket, blew up the lead tank. Before he reached cover, Nazi machine gun bullets ripped into his right shoulder. Now unarmed and wounded, he dragged himself along the ditch to safety.
Ten months later, on October 12, 1945, civilian William Soderman stood before President Truman to receive the Medal of Honor. His citation praised the veteran for exhibiting “to a superlative degree the intrepidity and heroism with which American soldiers met and smashed the savage power of the last great German invasion.”
Now, at age 64, Bill Soderman, retired and happy, remembers back to that long day and night in the field in Belgium as “just another day in my life.” He no longer discusses the battle itself. The account of his role in the Battle of the Bulge is reported from a copy of his Medal of Honor citation. An intensely modest man, Soderman says he is proud of his Medal of Honor – “I stood up to what was demanded of me” – but he doesn’t let it go to his head.
He marches in Memorial Day parades when invited and occasionally attends veteran’s events, but mostly he prefers to stay out of public life. One of the most pleasant Memorial Day parades he recalls was at Lake George, NY, when he stood in the crowd with his family as other soldiers of bygone wars marched through the streets.
He avoids many of the trappings that go along with the Medal. He doesn’t give speeches. He rarely makes public appearances. Next month, he will not go to Washington to sit in the Medal of Honor winners’ reviewing stand at President-elect Carter’s inauguration.
He has made it to Washington only twice since he received his medal from Truman; once for Eisenhower’s second inauguration and the other for a party the President gave in May 1963. “These things don’t impress me much,” he said in his West Haven home this week. “To be a public figure, that’s foreign to me. You have to be a glad-hander, and I’m not.”
Soderman, a thin man who looks years younger than 64, sees the medal as giving him an opportunity to lead a different kind of life from the one he had before he was drafted in 1943 when he was a butcher. From 1945 until his retirement four years ago, he worked at the VA Hospital, assisting patients in processing claims and helping them secure benefits. Before he earned the medal, he never thought he would hold a desk job.
Since his retirement, Soderman stays close to home with his wife, Virginia, venturing away from West Haven only to visit his children, who now live in Baltimore and Boston. “As I get older, my family comes first,” he says.
He credits his earning the medal to some advice given to him years ago by his father, Gustave, who is now dead. Soderman recalls, “My father used to tell me two things: ‘Never let it go to your head, and when other people get excited, keep your head.'”
Soderman was born in West Haven on March 20, 1912. He was survived by his wife, son Peter, daughter Susan L., a sister, and two grandchildren. He was buried in the family plot in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Honored with a marker and flagpole on the Veterans Walk of Honor, Bradley Point Park, 469 Captain Thomas Boulevard, West Haven, Connecticut. Dedicated on Sunday, July 1, 1984
USNS Soderman Naming Ceremony, October 25, 1997, San Diego, California.
With the solemnity befitting the remembrance of a war hero, the USNS William A. Soderman was christened in the shipyard of the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), San Diego, two weeks ago.
The new ship is the eighth and final “Strategic Sealift” ship to be built by the Navy. The “roll-on, roll-off” ships, as they are called, will be used to transport men and machines when and where necessary.
Sporting a length of 950 feet with a beam of 105 feet, the ships are the largest ever launched down a sliding ways in the United States, according to NASSCO, and the largest to traverse the Panama Canal.
This is technically the second USNS Soderman. The first was a converted liner that was commissioned in October 1997. “That one is going to the Marines,” said Virginia “Ginny” Soderman, widow of the city’s only Medal of Honor winner.
“This new ship is so big. I felt like a cricket when standing next to it,” said Soderman.
Along with Soderman was the couple’s niece, Kristina Carlson Fletcher. The nighttime christening had the traditional champagne bottle smashed into the bow. It was then the two women got a perspective on how big the ship was. “We were on a platform 60 feet high,” Soderman said. “We had to hit a ‘strike box’ to get the ship to slide down to the water. It was just so big.”
The ceremony was capped off by a fireworks display and celebration, but it was more muted than in 1997. “This had a much more solemn tone to it,” said Soderman, “it wasn’t like the last one.”
She said the ship is now undergoing construction of its fittings and equipment. The christening also served a very practical purpose. “Now that it’s in the water, they’ll be able to see if there are any leaks or problems, but it’s got the name on it,” she said excitedly.
Strategic sealift ships are large, medium-speed, roll-on, roll-off vessels (LMSRs). The USNS William A. Soderman boasts more than 390,000 square feet of cargo space. It will be part of the Navy’s Military Sealift Command and carry U.S. Army tanks, armored vehicles, tractor-trailers, and other combat equipment and supplies.
The story of Soderman’s heroics is legendary. On December 17-18, 1944, near Rocherath, Belgium, he defended a key junction armed only with a bazooka. Soderman remained at his post under severe artillery fire and disabled three German tanks. Despite a shoulder wound, he was able to crawl back to American lines with the help of two companions.
He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on October 12, 1945. Soderman was part of the famed 2nd Infantry Division, stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. It was nicknamed the Indianhead Division.
It was transferred to Ireland in October 1943 and was part of the June 6, 1944, D-Day operation at Normandy’s Omaha Beach. Soderman’s division was then positioned in Belgium and throughout the famous Battle of the Bulge.
Buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, 881 Campbell Avenue, West Haven, Connecticut; Oakdale Section, Lot A56-1. Photos by Jeff DeWitt.
END