To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to Eric Fisher Wood, Jr. for the acts of valor during the Battle of the Bulge.

The acts of valor referred to in subsection (a) are the actions of Eric Fisher Wood, Jr. in the Ardennes region of Wallonia, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge, when, as a Lieutenant in Battery A, 589th Field Artillery Battalion, 106th Infantry Division, from December 17, 1944, to January 22, 1945, he displayed extraordinary heroism in action against the enemy in Belgium.

After ordering his artillery battery to fire against enemy tanks in a delaying action, allowing other American units avoid capture, his unit was surrounded and forced to surrender. Rather than accept capture, as enemy fire converged on him from all sides, he raced across a large open field into the woods beyond.

Cut off from his own lines, and surrounded by the enemy in the Ardennes forest, Lieutenant Wood rallied a small band of American soldiers who were also separated from their units. Over the course of several weeks, he repeatedly initiated harassing ambush attacks against enemy communications, supply columns and patrols, accounting for the deaths and wounding of scores of enemy soldiers and further slowing their advance to strategic road intersections and helping other American units from being overrun or captured.

Lieutenant Wood continued his offensive actions until a final, fierce engagement with overwhelming enemy forces, where he made the last full measure of service. His body was found surrounded by several enemy dead. Lieutenant Wood’s extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty in the service of his country are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service. Lieutenant Wood was posthumously awarded the Distinguished-Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart for his heroism.