Opening Now For Mike Colalillo Medal of Honor Scholarship

Students may apply for the 2019 Mike Colalillo Medal of Honor Scholarship is  October 24th.

Students living in St. Louis County, or enrolled in a higher education program in St. Louis County can apply for this scholarship. This is a $1500 scholarship and does have some rules for applying.

Application forms are available on the St. Louis County Historical Society’s website. The application deadline is Thursday, October 24, 2019. The scholarship will be awarded at the Veterans Remembrance Dinner on November 15, 2019. See the Veterans Memorial Hall website or Facebook page for more information.

Scholarship applicants are required to submit a 3 to 10-page double-spaced research paper on a topic relevant to veterans of St. Louis County, Minnesota. A minimum of one resource from the Albert J. Amatuzio Research Center must be referenced. For example, the project would be a research paper on a historical event or person in St. Louis County, Minnesota, related to a conflict, a war, the homefront or a county veteran.

Information about the namesake provided by the St. Louis Historical Society

Mike Colalillo was the last living Medal of Honor recipient in St. Louis County. Mr. Colalillo received the Medal of Honor for his actions in World War II.When Mr. Colalillo was sixteeen, his mother died. His father had four children still at home. Mr. Colalillo, who attended Denfeld High School, left school to work at the Grand Bakery on 57th Avenue West to help out. His father was not happy with this decision, but Mr. Colalillo insisted. He was a baker's helper, assisting wherever he was needed at the bakery. He was still working there two years later when the Draft Board contacted him. Many of his friends had already been drafted.

After the war, Mr. Colalillo returned to Duluth.

A brief biography of Mike Colalillo can be viewed online here. Veterans’ Memorial Hall is currently displaying Mike Colalillo’s uniform and a display copy of his Medal of Honor, as donated to the Society by the Colalillo family. Entrance to the museum is free to the public, during regular Depot hours.