Germans Captured Him — He Laughed, Then Killed 21 of Them in 45 Seconds

Leonard A. Funk

In January 1945, in the snow of Holzheim, Belgium, First Sergeant Leonard Funk walks into the worst possible mistake—90 armed German soldiers, his own men on their knees, and an MP-40 pressed into his stomach. He can’t understand the German officer… so he laughs.

What happens next takes seconds: a Thompson, a lightning reload, and a decision that flips the entire situation on its head. This is the true WWII story of Leonard Funk—Normandy, Market Garden, the Bulge—and the unbelievable 45 seconds that earned him the Medal of Honor. 

I was between flights at O'Hare Airport when I came upon a man sitting behind a table in front of a book store. If I remember correctly it was titled " All the way to Berlin! It was lLeonard Funk. The book was a memoir of his service in WWIII. I remember thinking that he is not a large or imposing man but when I spoke to him I thought he had an inner strength and I bought the book to read on my next flight. 

I still have the book and feel fortunate to have met a real American hero. I drank beers with 1SG Funk in the 80s when he came to our barracks to hang out. I was in his former unit in the 82nd. He was really glad to be drinking beer with us said he felt like he was home. He demonstrated how he did this with his machine gun how we hooked his thumb around it and swung it up firing.

I couldn't help but think that actually he was lucky that unlucky German officer didn't just shoot him on the spot as he was armed.