Mike Colalillo Medal of Honor scholarship recipient announced

Steven Hendrickson

Former University of Minnesota Duluth student Steven Hendrickson has been awarded the Mike Colalillo Medal of Honor Scholarship, officials at Veterans’ Memorial Hall announced today. A formal check presentation will be made Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Louis County Heritage & Arts Center (The Depot) in the Great Hall.

The $750 scholarship is awarded annually by Veterans’ Memorial Hall, a program of St. Louis County Historical Society, in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Mike Colalillo. Mr. Colalillo was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic acts during World War II. Mr. Colalillo’s story can be found online, here.

As part of the scholarship application process, students must write a short paper about some aspect of local military history. Hendrickson wrote about his grandfather who served during World War II in the Marine Corps and helped defend Wake Island against the Japanese on December 7, 1941. Eventually the island fell to the Japanese, and he was taken prisoner. He remained a Prisoner of War for 3 ½ years before being freed after the Japanese surrender in September of 1945.