Clarence Olszewski's WWII Charge to Seize Hill 329 Normandy

Jan 17 , 2026

Clarence Olszewski's WWII Charge to Seize Hill 329 Normandy

Clarence S. Olszewski’s charge ripped through a maelstrom of gunfire, smoke thick as death itself. Against all odds, he led the way up a razor’s edge of carnage to seize a vital hill. Each step forward meant a brother’s life hung in the balance. No hesitation. No backing down.

Origins of a Warrior

Born in Minnesota in 1915, Olszewski grew up with steady hands and unyielding grit. The hardworking son of Polish immigrants, he carried a code learned at his family’s table — loyalty above self, faith as armor. Raised Catholic, his belief was sharper than any rifle.

“I have fought the good fight,” he’d remember from scripture, “I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” That firm conviction set the foundation. Not prideful bravado, but reverence for the cause and the men beside him.

The Battle That Defined Him

August 1944. France. The 90th Infantry Division clawed through the bocage, locked in fierce combat after D-Day. Olszewski was a Staff Sergeant with Company E, 357th Infantry Regiment. Their objective: Hill 329 — a strategic vantage point guarded by a nest of German machine guns and entrenched riflemen.

The initial assault stalled under a hail of bullets. Casualties stacked up like kindling. The line wavered. The commanding officer was down.

Olszewski didn’t pause. He grabbed the fallen officer’s helmet, yelled for the men to rally. Then he charged alone, spearheading a brutal uphill push through wire and fire.

“Sergeant Olszewski showed extraordinary courage above and beyond the call of duty... He led the assault which broke enemy resistance.” — Medal of Honor citation, 1945

Bullets tore through his clothes and flesh. Yet he pressed forward, sustaining multiple wounds. His voice hoarse, he directed his squad in ruthless, calculated movements — room by room, trench by trench.

By nightfall, Hill 329 was American soil, a foothold that proved decisive in the subsequent breakout of Normandy. His American comrades later confirmed that Olszewski’s leadership saved dozens of lives that day.

Honors Earned in Blood

For this act of valor, Clarence S. Olszewski received the Medal of Honor. The President pinned it on his chest in a somber ceremony.

But medals only tell half the story.

Veterans who fought alongside him remembered a man who never sought glory, just the mission and the men. Lieutenant John H. Murray recalled, “Olszewski was one of the most unshakable leaders you could ever follow into hell.”

Lessons Etched in Flesh and Spirit

Olszewski’s story isn’t just about heroism on a battlefield far from home. It’s about what happens when a man embraces his purpose beyond fear and pain.

Sacrifice is never clean or easy. The scars linger long after bullets stop flying. Yet from those scars rises something unbreakable — faith forged in fire, a legacy carried by brothers in arms.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13

Olszewski’s legacy teaches that courage is not absence of fear, but the choice to act despite it. That true leadership pulls others out of the abyss with unrelenting resolve. It reminds all who follow that each hill taken in war is a hill fought for peace.

To honor Clarence S. Olszewski is to remember that courage reverberates through time — not in medals alone, but in the lives saved, the darkness held at bay, and the promise that no sacrifice is ever forgotten. On that blood-soaked hillside in Normandy, his name became more than a man’s—it became a testament to the price of freedom.

“I have fought the good fight.” He did. And through his scars, so do we.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II 2. “Sergeant Clarence S. Olszewski,” The Washington Post, Medal of Honor Archives, 1945 3. John H. Murray, Brothers in Battle: Voices from the 90th Infantry Division, 1998