 In addition, he is the only surviving soldier to have received the Medal of Honor during World War II, and the only surviving Medal of Honor recipient from the European theater of the war.Coolidge was born in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, on August 4, 1921, the son of Walter and Grace (McCracken) Coolidge of Chattanooga.He graduated from Chattanooga High School in 1939, and worked at his father's printing business as a bookbinder.