Hometown Heroes WWII
Pvt. 1st Class Charles G. Sarantopoulos, U.S. Army
German forces had American troops pinned down along the Siegfried Line near Kesternich Germany. From secure defensive positions at a fortified strongpoint the Germans had a clear field of fire. The position had to be neutralized. Private First Class Charles Sarantopoulos, a machine gunner, left the protection of a hedgerow and crept and crawled, under small arms fire, over 75 yards of open terrain, finally selecting a firing position only 50 yards from the enemy.
From this point he fired constantly, neutralizing the enemy fire and enabling seven men to advance and capture the strong point.
Sadly, Private Sarantopoulos was seriously wounded after being hit by blast fragmentation from the explosion of an artillery shell. He died two days later on Dec. 15, 1944.
He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal for heroic achievement. According to the citation “His devotion to duty and utter disregard for his personal safety are in accordance with the highest military traditions.”
Charles Sarantopoulos was born on July 27, 1921, in Lewiston, Maine, the son of Greek immigrants George and Stella Sarantopoulos. He had five brothers and two sisters. He graduated from Killingly High School where he was an outstanding scholar and athlete in basketball and soccer. Following his graduation in 1939, he entered the engineering school at UConn, leaving at the end of his freshman year to enter the employ of United Aircraft Corporation at Hartford, where he was a valued defense worker until he entered service with the armed forces on July 6, 1943. He was assigned to Company L, 310th Regiment, 78th Infantry Division.
He is buried at the Westfield Cemetery in Danielson.
Hometown Heroes is a series published in the Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger with this mission: We owe it to our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines to make sure that they are never forgotten, and that the memory of their service and sacrifice will forever live on in the hearts and minds of the grateful people of Putnam.
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