Archive for the ‘Silver Star’ Category
337th Regiment, 3rd Battalion, 85th Infantry Division, Gen. Mark Clark's 5th Army, Invasion of Sicily, Salerno
In Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Silver Star, U. S. Army, World War II on November 12, 2012 at 4:38 am
1st Lt. William Standish is pictured after WWII wearing his Combat Infantryman’s Badge and his ribbons indicating he fought in four major campaigns and received the Silver and Bronze Star medals. Photo provided
It was 1st Lt. William Standish’s worst nightmare. He and the men in his platoon were charging a German-held house in the fog atop Hill 566, just south of Bologna, Italy, during World War II. The fog lifted and they were standing in the open, 50 feet away from an enemy machine-gun position. Read the rest of this entry »
84th Infantry Division, Aachen, Battle of the Bulge, Hannover, Hockenheim, Silver Star, Tiger Tank
In Silver Star, U. S. Army on October 26, 2012 at 4:38 am
This is Maurice Forgotson’s mortar platoon taken immediately after VE Day, probably somewhere near Hannover, Germany. He isn’t in the picture. Photo provided by Maurice Forgotson
Maurice Forgotson, of Gulf View mobile home park on Burnt Store Road, south of Punta Gorda, Fla. was a forward observer with a mortar platoon. It was part of the 84th Infantry Division, attached to Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army in Europe during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
17th Regiment, Silver Star
In Korean War, Silver Star, U. S. Army on October 17, 2012 at 4:38 am
Pfc. Mike Meehan of Englewood, Fla. is shown in this 1951 photo when he when he took part in the Korean War. He was 22-years-old. Photo provided
Michael Meehan of Englewood, Fla. received a Silver Star, the third highest commendation awarded an American soldier for gallantry under enemy fire, when his unit, the 17th Regiment of the 7th Division, was trying to capture a hill held by North Koreans. Read the rest of this entry »
"Black Knights", 1st infantry Division, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, 8th Regiment, Big Red 1, Cuban Missile Crisis, George Company, Iron Triangle, Nautrang, Officers Candidate School, Tet Offensive
In Korean War, Silver Star, Vietnam War, World War II on October 3, 2012 at 4:38 am
This picture of Charles Milam as a “bird colonel” was taken in 1975 about the time he retired when he was 49 after 30 years in the service. Photo provided
Charles Milam of Port Charlotte, Fla. was a freshman on a football scholarship playing for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks in 1944 when he decided to join the Marine Corps. Read the rest of this entry »
23rd Americal Division, 27th INfantry Regiment, Army War Barracks, Carlisle PA, DMZ, Fort Orr, Guadalcanal, Henderson Field, New Georgia Island, Oregon National Guard, Panmunjom, Pleiku, U.S. Army Experimental Command
In Korean War, Silver Star, U. S. Army, Vietnam War, World War II on August 10, 2012 at 4:38 am
Here he is a second lieutenant serving in the Second World War. Clark received the Silver Star for gallantry under fire during WWII. Photo provided by Al Clark
Col. Al R. Clark of Port Charlotte, Fla. joined the Oregon National Guard in 1935 at the age of 15. Before his 33-year regular Army career was over, he saw action on the front lines in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Read the rest of this entry »
1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, 8th Regiment, Company D
In Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Silver Star, U. S. Army, Vietnam War on December 7, 2011 at 4:38 am
Walter Levasseur of Rotonda holds a board containing his Army military decorations. Included are two Purple Hearts, a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and an Air Medal. Sun photo by Don Moore
Walter Levasseur a former master sergeant in the U.S. Army, served two tours of duty in Vietnam in 1967 and 1970. By the time he was through, he had received the Purple Heart with an oak leaf cluster for being wounded a second time, the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars — one for valor the other for meritorious service — and the Air Medal for going on 25 combat missions in a helicopter. Read the rest of this entry »
"The Timberwolves", 104th Infantry Division, Distinguished Service Medal
In Silver Star, U. S. Army on October 17, 2011 at 4:38 am
Sgt. George Burns, who fought with the Timberwolf Division, 104th Infantry Division, in World War II, is pictured with a young German girl after the battle. Burns lived in Punta Gorda, Fla. for 28 years until his death in 1994. Photo provided
George Burns, who lived in Punta Gorda, Fla. for 28 years until his death in March 1994, received the Distinguished Service Cross for his exploits with the 104th Infantry Division, “The Timberwolves,” in World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Gold Star Mother, Library of Congress, Medal of Honor, P-40 "Warhawk", P-51 Mustang, Red Ball Express, Tuskegee Airman, USS Perch, Veterans History Project
In Korean War, Medal of Honor, Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart, Silver Star, U. S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, Vietnam War, World War II on June 20, 2011 at 4:38 am
For the past year, in addition to writing war stories about local veterans, I’ve provided DVD interviews of these same veterans to the Library of Congress’ “Veterans History Project.”
This week I reached a milestone in these interviews. A couple of days ago I sent 25 DVDs and supporting material on each disk to the Library of Congress. That’s a total for the year of 100 interviews, 100 DVDs the “Veterans History Project” has received since this time last year. Read the rest of this entry »
Ben Het, Camp 101, Green Beret, Hanoi Hilton, MIA/POW, Montagnards, POW Camp 101, Radio Hanoi, US Army Special Forces
In Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Silver Star, U. S. Army, Vietnam War on May 11, 2011 at 4:38 am
Stephen Leopold shakes hands with his father, Charles, at their first meeting in almost five years after his release from a North Vietnamese POW camp at the end of the Vietnam War in 1973. Photo provided
POW Camp 101 is what it was called. The camp was a hell hole located 20 miles outside Hanoi, North Vietnam. It’s where 100 American MIAs languished during the Vietnam War and nobody in the United States knew they were there.
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Ben Het, Camp 101, Green Beret, Hanoi Hilton, MIA/POW, Montagnards, Radio Hanoi, US Army Special Forces
In Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Silver Star, U.S. Air Force, Vietnam War on May 9, 2011 at 4:38 am
Stephen Leopold in a Green Beret uniform (right) given him at Clark Air Force base in the Philippines shakes hands in 1973 with base officers. He had been released days earlier from a North Vietnamese POW camp after almost five years in prison. Photo provided
It made no difference that 23-year-old 2nd Lt. Stephen Leopold was a Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University who served as a member of the U.S. Army’s elite Special Forces in Vietnam. Three weeks after arriving in country he was captured by the North Vietnam Army near Ben Het, in the jungles of Two Corps, May 9, 1968.
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18th Infantry Division, 9th Armored Division, Aaken, D-Day, Easy Red, Fortress Europe, Omaha Beach, Patton's 3rd Army, Remagen, The Big Red 1
In Army, Bronze Star, Silver Star, World War II on December 10, 2010 at 4:38 am
Doc Lawrence Schaeferle waa a small town doctor from Garwin, Iowa who joined the 16th Infantry Division. Aa a captain he patched up wounded soldiers on Omaha Beach during the height of the Normandy Invasion on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The doctor served the entire war in Europe. Photo provided by Chuck Blaine
The citation accompanying his Bronze Star Medal reads:
“LAWRENCE G. SCHAEFERLE, CAPTAIN, Medical Detachment, 32nd Field Artillery Battalion. For heroic achievement in connection with military operations against the enemy in the vicinity of St. Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, 6 June, 1944. Although subjected to heavy enemy fire, Capt. Schaeferle remained on exposed beach, administering first aid and assisting in evacuation of the seriously wounded. His heroic devotion to duty saved many lives. Entitled to wear six bronze battle participation stars on European Theatre Ribbon for campaigns in Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe. Awarded the Bronze Star Medal for combat service in France and Bronze Service Arrowhead for Normandy Invasion.”
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48th Field Artillery Battalion, Distinguished Service Crosses, Pork Chop Hill
In Korean War, Purple Heart, Silver Star on July 14, 2010 at 6:00 am
Second Lt. Ron Freedman, 48th Artillery Battalion attached to the 7th Infantry Division, stands in the doorway of his observation post near Pork Chop Hill during the closing months of the Korean War. Photo provided.
More than 50 years after the rifles fell silent and the cannon fire ceased in the hills north of the 38th Parallel dividing North and South Korea, no one who was there seems to know why both sides put so much stock in controlling Pork Chop Hill during the closing months of the Korean War. Read the rest of this entry »
Airborne Ranger, Command Control North, Green Beret, Montagnard, Presidential Unit Citation, S.O.G., Special Services
In Bronze Star, Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart, Silver Star, Vietnam War on July 9, 2010 at 6:00 am
Mark Bills took this picture of one of his Montagnard recon teams with several of his American teammates. The Montagnards were particularly good jungle fighters who hated the Vietnamese.
John Rambo has nothing on Mark Bills.
The Venice, Fla. dentist was once a member of an elite, secret Army Special Forces group dropped behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War.
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1st Armored Division, 6th Armored Division, Bastogne, Battle of the Bulge, Desert Fox, General Patton, Kasserine Pass, Metz, North Africa, Purple Heart, Rommel, Sicily, Silver Star, World War II
In Purple Heart, Silver Star, U. S. Army, World War II on May 19, 2010 at 6:00 am
Sgt. Mike Sovan was the commander of a Sherman tank. He served with the 15th Tank Battalion, 6th Armored Division in Patton’s 3rd Army during World War II. He lost four tanks to German 88s, received three Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars, and a Bronze Star with a “V” for Valor among his many commendations.
Sgt. Mike Sovan, a Sherman tank commander, and his men had just crossed the Nied River in France during World War II as part of Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army when their third tank was shot out from under them.
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508th Regimental Combat Team, Airborne Ranger, Aldershop, Big Red 1, General DePuy, Greenbrier Military Institute, Kentucky Military Institute, Lt. Col. Alexander Haig, Virginia Military Institute, Walter Reed Hospital
In Bronze Star, Korean War, Silver Star, Vietnam War on May 10, 2010 at 6:00 am
Lt. Col. Rufus Lazzell of Punta Gorda Isles, Fla., commander of the U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division tells Gen. William Westmoreland, commander of American troops in Vietnam, about the fire fight he and his men just had with the Viet Cong while some of the general’s staff listen. The 1967 shootout, in which a number of VC were killed, near Lai Khe, 40 miles north of Saigon. Photo provided
From the looks of him you’d never know Rufus Lazzell is a highly-decorated Airborne Ranger with two wars under his belt. He is a little guy with a matter-of-fact attitude who doesn’t spend much time talking about his military exploits in Korea or Vietnam decades ago. Read the rest of this entry »
3rd Army, 3rd Division, Gen. George Patton, Pope Pius XII
In Purple Heart, Silver Star, U. S. Army, World War II on March 14, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Harold Sandler had just been commissioned a 2nd lieutenant at Fort Benning, Ga., when he tried on his new officer’s uniform for the camera.
Harold Sandler didn’t start out to be a “Ninety-day Wonder” or a war hero, but that’s what he became by the time World War II was over.
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