This Day in History: William Soderman

On this day in 1980, a hero passes away. William Soderman’s hometown of West Haven, Connecticut, had long known him as a quiet, hardworking man who would “always see a task through to the end.”

That determination would turn him into a one-man army at the Battle of the Bulge. Would you believe that Soderman took on multiple German tanks, single-handedly?! The move earned him a Medal of Honor.

Pfc. Soderman’s heroism came near Rocherath, Belgium on the night of December 17-18, 1944. He’d been tasked with defending a key road junction during that bitterly cold night. It was dark and moonless, which would later prove helpful.

Suddenly, the Germans launched a barrage of artillery. It was a “cataclysm of fire, blood, and steel which cut his infantry battalion to pieces,” one local journalist later described. Soderman had been manning a bazooka with an assistant, but that assistant was now wounded and evacuated.

Soderman was on his own.

Just then, he heard five Mark V tanks approaching. Using the darkness to his advantage, he hid just out of sight, waiting for them to come within point-blank range. “He then stood up,” his Medal citation explains, “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.”

The other tanks retreated before he could reload.

The hours that followed have been described as Soderman’s “own private war.” He stayed at his post all night, even as enemy artillery, mortar and machine gun fire fell all around. When dawn broke, he could hear five more tanks approaching.

Again taking advantage of dim visibility—this time because of an early morning fog—he ran through a ditch, making his way toward the tanks. When he found a good spot, he leapt out into the road in front of the tanks, once again taking out the lead tank. The other tanks withdrew, just as they had the first time.

Soderman returned to his post, but as he did, he stumbled across an enemy platoon. He opened fire, taking out three of the enemy and forcing the rest to flee.

By this time, the pressure on Soderman’s company had become overwhelming, and our soldiers were ordered to withdraw.

Would you believe that Soderman heard tanks for a third time? “Knowing that elements of the company had not completed their disengaging maneuver and were consequently extremely vulnerable to an armored attack,” his Medal citation concludes, “he hurried from his comparatively safe position to meet the tanks. Once more he disabled the lead tank with a single rocket.”

Unfortunately, he would not emerge from this third encounter unscathed, as he had the first two times. Instead, he took a terrible hit to his right shoulder. He’d used his last rocket, so there was nothing to do but drag himself through a ditch to safety.

He reportedly left a trail of blood nearly a mile long . . . but he made it.

Thankfully, Soderman’s story has a happy ending. He returned home and was standing on his own two feet when he received the Medal of Honor. He got married, had kids, and went to work for a Veterans Affairs hospital.

Since his passing at the age of 68, two Navy ships have been named in his honor. His widow was at the christening of USNS Soderman in 2002, although she thought he wouldn’t have wanted a ship named for him.

“He was a modest, quiet man,” she concluded. “He had a job to do and did it.”

Rest in peace, Sir.

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Primary Sources:

• Katie Lange, Medal of Honor Monday: Army Pfc. William A. Soderman (Dept. of Defense; Dec. 17, 2018)

• Keith Rushing, W. Haven Ceremony Focuses on Local Hero (Connecticut Post; Nov. 10, 1997) (p. A6)

• Marianne Lippard, Navy Ship Bears Name of War Hero (Connecticut Post; Oct. 28, 1997) (p. A7)

• Medal of Honor citation (William Soderman; WWII)

• Medal of Honor Winners Pray for Peace, Courage (Hartford Courant; Nov. 12, 1956) (p. 4)

• Meg Barone, Veterans Get Early Tributes (Connecticut Post; Nov. 10, 1994) (p. A2)

• ‘One-Man Army’ to be Honored (Circleville Herald; Oct. 9, 1945) (p. 1)

• Soderman's Heroics Legendary (West Haven Voice; Dec. 18, 2019)

• Soderman II (T-AKR-317) (Naval History and Heritage Command)

• Swift Soldier Given Honor Medal by Truman (Austin American; Oct. 27, 1945) (p. 5)

• Vic Hogfeldt, Soderman a hero for the ages (West Haven Voice; Dec. 11, 2019)