From the Leopold Canal assault to the clearing of the Hochwald Forest, during five months of action, Lieutenant Sarantos commanded a platoon of 16 Canadian Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, with exceptional valour, fortitude and determination. It was this officer and this platoon that constructed in the face of furious and determined enemy resistance and under fire at point-blank range, two Kapok Bridges across the Leopold Canal, the sole link and channel of supply for the vital first week of this bitterly contested bridgehead. Time and again during the protracted battle for the Lower Scheldt Pocket, this officer's resolution in pushing forward to the assistance and support of the infantry, no matter how great the difficulty, how desperate the circumstance, resulted in a consistently high standard of engineer service right forward at the front line. Again, during the operation to clear the west bank of the Rhine in February 1945, Lieutenant Sarantos' platoon supported 8 Canadian Infantry Brigade on the open left flank of the Corps attack. Owing to the special nature of this assault across deeply flooded country, the engineer commitment of constructing and clearing ramps for the offloading of support vehicles, was of tremendous importance. Landing with the leading infantry company on ground swept from both sides by heavy machine gun fire, this officer and his detachment worked in a dangerously exposed position to complete this essential task in the teeth of the fiercest opposition the enemy could offer. Whether laying minefields in front of the forward defended localities, clearing roads under fire, or supporting the infantry in the assault, at all tasks of a routine or dangerous nature this officer's qualities of leadership, his conspicuous and skilful handling of his command, and his exceptional gallantry, have inspired a confidence and esprit to corps in his men which made them equal to any task they were asked to undertake.