This Day in History: Maurice "Footsie" Britt's Medal of Honor
- tara
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
On this day in 1943, a former Detroit Lion engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. Yet Maurice “Footsie” Britt earned more than just a Medal. He was also the first American to earn the four highest U.S. Army combat decorations for valor, all during a single war.
Even better, he lived to tell his stories.
Britt had been an athlete in college, of course, but he’d also joined the Army Reserve Officer’s Training Corps during his time at the University of Arkansas. By the time the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, he was a college graduate and a professional football player, just wrapping up his rookie season.
He never got to play a second season with the Lions. Instead, the Army called him to active duty, and he went to war.
Britt participated in the African, Sicilian, and Italian campaigns, taking part in three amphibious landings and earning a Silver Star and a Bronze Star Medal with a “V.”
He would also soon earn the highest Army combat decoration: the Medal of Honor.
Then-Lt. Britt’s Medal action came on November 10, 1943, just a few months after landing at Salerno, Italy. He was then at Monte Rotundo, where roughly 100 German soldiers were moving forward. The German attack, Britt’s Medal citation later explained, “if successful, would have isolated his battalion and destroyed his company.”
Britt wasn’t going to let that happen. Instead, he went after the Germans, encouraging and leading “a handful” of his men to go with him.
The combat that followed was intense. At some point, Britt received a bullet wound in his side. Moreover, the constant spray of grenades left him bleeding all over, yet he simply refused to stop.
“I saw him throw 10 to 12 grenades,” one eyewitness later marveled. “German fire coming back all the time. We thought we’d be overrun. Always, I saw Lt. Britt out in front. He was a one-man army.”
Britt’s commanding officer agreed, noting that “Britt fired his rifle at them, he threw grenades and at the finish I believe he was even throwing rocks.”
In the end, Britt is credited with throwing 32 grenades. He eliminated five of the enemy and wounded even more. He is also credited with personally wiping out an enemy machine gun nest and enabling several captured Americans to escape.
As if all that weren’t enough, just a few months later, Britt engaged in an action that would earn him a Distinguished Service Cross. Could that action have merited a Medal of Honor as well? On that occasion, his company had become pinned down. Yet again, then-Captain Britt risked himself, “mov[ing] into an exposed position only 75 yards from the enemy line and from there direct[ing] mortar and artillery fire,” as his Cross citation explains.
The enemy tank opened fire on Britt, but he responded by directing return fire from an American tank destroyer. The enemy ultimately withdrew.
Not too long after this brave action, Britt would lose his right arm to enemy fire. Nevertheless, he survived and returned home. He was presented with a Medal of Honor on his old college football field.
“[T]he real heroes are those men who assisted me in accomplishing any act for which I may personally be commended,” he said at the time. “They are the ones to honor and it is only in their behalf that I accept this medal.”
He would reiterate these sentiments even after he’d gone on to personal and professional success, including a stint as Lt. Governor of Arkansas.
“I did my duty,” he said when the NFL interviewed him for a film in 1993. “And losing an arm was a very small price to pay. . . . The real heroes of war are the ones that didn’t come back. They’re the ones that paid the supreme sacrifice.”
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Primary Sources:
Alex Kershaw, “Footsie” Britt (Friends of the National WWII Museum; Jan. 22, 2024)
America’s Heroes: Medal of Honor Recipients from the Civil War to Afghanistan (James Willbanks ed.; 2011)
Distinguished Service Cross citation (Maurice Lee Britt; WWII) (reprinted HERE)
Fayetteville Preparing for Gala Day June 5 When Britt is to Get Medal of Honor (Southwest American’ May 10, 1944) (p. 2)
“Footsie” Britt (1919–1995) (Encyclopedia of Arkansas)
Gridder Britt First Soldier to Win 3 Top U.S. Honors (Star Tribune; Dec. 4, 1944) (p. 15)
Jim Simpson, Maurice Britt Gets Medal of Honor in Colorful Ceremony at Fayetteville (Times Record; June 6, 1944) (p. 6)
Judy Battista, Maurice Britt interrupted Lions career to become World War II hero: ‘He was a one-man army’ (NFL.com; Nov 16, 2022)
Kyle Kellams, The Amazing Life of “Footsie” Britt (KUAF National Public Radio; Jan. 25, 2021)
Medal of Honor citation (Maurice Lee (footsie) Britt; WWII)
Shay E. Hopper et. al, An Arkansas History for Young People (Teacher’s Edition)
Tom Dillard & Roy Reed, Statesmen, Scoundrels, and Eccentrics: A Gallery of Amazing Arkansans (2010)
Trey Berry, The Arkansas Journey (2007)