Commentary: Utah’s only Latino recipient of the Medal of Honor held off 200 Nazis — and died just months before the end of the war

This Memorial Day, let us recall the sacrifice of Private First Class Jose F. Valdez. Let us recall it not because he is one of only six Utahn Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, nor because he remains Utah’s only Latino recipient. Let us recall it because, as Americans, we must.

On Jan. 25, 1945, Valdez was part of a patrol of six GIs on outpost duty in the vicinity of Rosenkrantz, France. The GIs were members of Company B, 7^th Infantry, 3^rd Infantry Division. They were about 500 yards beyond American lines.

Valdez had enlisted at a recruiting station in Pleasant Grove, Utah, in 1944, at the age of 19.