PHOENIX — Silvestre Herrera, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism during a World War II battle in France, died on Monday.
Herrera, who was 90, was pronounced dead by firefighters who were called to his suburban Glendale home by relatives who found him unresponsive in bed, Glendale Fire Department spokesman Daniel Valenzuela said.
Herrera was the first Arizona resident to win the nation's highest award for valor during the war.
Herrera was a private with the 36th Infantry Division in March 1945 when his unit came under fire by enemy machine guns as it was advancing up a road near Mertzwiller, France.
According to the Medal of Honor citation, the rest of his unit took cover but Herrera made a one-man frontal assault on the enemy position and captured eight soldiers. As his platoon again began advancing, another gun emplacement opened fire, and he again advanced alone, this time through a minefield. He stepped on a mine and both his feet were blown off, but he kept firing until another squad captured the second emplacement.
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"The magnificent courage, extraordinary heroism, and willing self-sacrifice displayed by Pvt. Herrera resulted in the capture of 2 enemy strongpoints and the taking of 8 prisoners," the citation reads.
Herrera once said he didn't consider himself a particularly brave man.
"I was one of the lucky ones, to live to be awarded the Medal of Honor," he said.
After the war, he worked as an artisan crafting leather and raised seven children.
In 1956, an elementary school was named after him in Phoenix, and an Army Reserve training center in Mesa was named after him in 2002.
In a 2005 interview with The Arizona Republic, Herrera recalled receiving the Medal of Honor from President Truman during a ceremony on the White House lawn.
"He told me he would rather be awarded the Medal of Honor than be president of the United States," Herrera said. "That made me even more proud."
