World War II Medal of Honor Recipient. He received the award from President Harry S. Truman at the White House on August 23, 19945, for his actions as a staff sergeant with the 2nd Platoon, Company C, 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, US Army, on October 25, 1944, near Bruyeres, France. The son of a coal miner, he joined the US Army soon after graduating from high school. Following his combat training, he participated in the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. On October 25, 1944, his tank destroyer was hit and set on fire in an attack by German forces. Ordering the crew to abandon the destroyer and reached a position of relative safety, he returned through hostile fire to the burning vehicle to make sure no one was trapped inside. Seeing a German tank overrunning American infantry soldiers, he single-handedly attacked and destroyed the tank. In addition tot he Medal of Honor, he was also awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and the World War II Victory Medal. Following the war, he returned to his home town and in 1946 he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party, serving until January 1997. He died of complications from congestive heart failure at the age of 81. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "He commanded a tank destroyer near Bruyeres, France, on October 25, 1944. Our infantry occupied a position on a wooded hill when, at dusk, an enemy Mark IV tank and a company of infantry attacked, threatening to overrun the American position and capture a command post 400 yards to the rear. S/Sgt. Choate's tank destroyer, the only weapon available to oppose the German armor, was set afire by 2 hits. Ordering his men to abandon the destroyer, S/Sgt. Choate reached comparative safety. He returned to the burning destroyer to search for comrades possibly trapped in the vehicle risking instant death in an explosion which was imminent and braving enemy fire which ripped his jacket and tore the helmet from his head. Completing the search and seeing the tank and its supporting infantry overrunning our infantry in their shallow foxholes, he secured a bazooka and ran after the tank, dodging from tree to tree and passing through the enemy's loose skirmish line. He fired a rocket from a distance of 20 yards, immobilizing the tank but leaving it able to spray the area with cannon and machinegun fire. Running back to our infantry through vicious fire, he secured another rocket, and, advancing against a hail of machinegun and small-arms fire reached a position 10 yards from the tank. His second shot shattered the turret. With his pistol he killed 2 of the crew as they emerged from the tank; and then running to the crippled Mark IV while enemy infantry sniped at him, he dropped a grenade inside the tank and completed its destruction. With their armor gone, the enemy infantry became disorganized and was driven back. S/Sgt. Choate's great daring in assaulting an enemy tank single-handed, his determination to follow the vehicle after it had passed his position, and his skill and crushing thoroughness in the attack prevented the enemy from capturing a battalion command post and turned a probable defeat into a tactical success."