A day to remember Medal of Honor recipient Michael Murphy.
Michael Murphy
- Thread starter hotmetal
- Start date
Walter D. Ehlers. (A cousin of mine was his daughter-in-law.) A month after D-Day he learned that his brother had been killed on Omaha Beach.
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 9–10 June 1944, near Goville, France. S/Sgt. Ehlers, always acting as the spearhead of the attack, repeatedly led his men against heavily defended enemy strong points exposing himself to deadly hostile fire whenever the situation required heroic and courageous leadership. Without waiting for an order, S/Sgt. Ehlers, far ahead of his men, led his squad against a strongly defended enemy strong point, personally killing 4 of an enemy patrol who attacked him en route. Then crawling forward under withering machinegun fire, he pounced upon the guncrew and put it out of action. Turning his attention to 2 mortars protected by the crossfire of 2 machineguns, S/Sgt. Ehlers led his men through this hail of bullets to kill or put to flight the enemy of the mortar section, killing 3 men himself. After mopping up the mortar positions, he again advanced on a machinegun, his progress effectively covered by his squad. When he was almost on top of the gun he leaped to his feet and, although greatly outnumbered, he knocked out the position single-handed. The next day, having advanced deep into enemy territory, the platoon of which S/Sgt. Ehlers was a member, finding itself in an untenable position as the enemy brought increased mortar, machinegun, and small arms fire to bear on it, was ordered to withdraw. S/Sgt. Ehlers, after his squad had covered the withdrawal of the remainder of the platoon, stood up and by continuous fire at the semicircle of enemy placements, diverted the bulk of the heavy hostile fire on himself, thus permitting the members of his own squad to withdraw. At this point, though wounded himself, he carried his wounded automatic rifleman to safety and then returned fearlessly over the shell-swept field to retrieve the automatic rifle which he was unable to carry previously. After having his wound treated, he refused to be evacuated, and returned to lead his squad. The intrepid leadership, indomitable courage, and fearless aggressiveness displayed by S/Sgt. Ehlers in the face of overwhelming enemy forces serve as an inspiration to others.
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 9–10 June 1944, near Goville, France. S/Sgt. Ehlers, always acting as the spearhead of the attack, repeatedly led his men against heavily defended enemy strong points exposing himself to deadly hostile fire whenever the situation required heroic and courageous leadership. Without waiting for an order, S/Sgt. Ehlers, far ahead of his men, led his squad against a strongly defended enemy strong point, personally killing 4 of an enemy patrol who attacked him en route. Then crawling forward under withering machinegun fire, he pounced upon the guncrew and put it out of action. Turning his attention to 2 mortars protected by the crossfire of 2 machineguns, S/Sgt. Ehlers led his men through this hail of bullets to kill or put to flight the enemy of the mortar section, killing 3 men himself. After mopping up the mortar positions, he again advanced on a machinegun, his progress effectively covered by his squad. When he was almost on top of the gun he leaped to his feet and, although greatly outnumbered, he knocked out the position single-handed. The next day, having advanced deep into enemy territory, the platoon of which S/Sgt. Ehlers was a member, finding itself in an untenable position as the enemy brought increased mortar, machinegun, and small arms fire to bear on it, was ordered to withdraw. S/Sgt. Ehlers, after his squad had covered the withdrawal of the remainder of the platoon, stood up and by continuous fire at the semicircle of enemy placements, diverted the bulk of the heavy hostile fire on himself, thus permitting the members of his own squad to withdraw. At this point, though wounded himself, he carried his wounded automatic rifleman to safety and then returned fearlessly over the shell-swept field to retrieve the automatic rifle which he was unable to carry previously. After having his wound treated, he refused to be evacuated, and returned to lead his squad. The intrepid leadership, indomitable courage, and fearless aggressiveness displayed by S/Sgt. Ehlers in the face of overwhelming enemy forces serve as an inspiration to others.
Indeed. And Michael deserves all the honor we can bestow. But let us also remember those, like a friend of my Mom whose name, sadly, I cannot recall. He died at Normandy before he even reached the beach. He accomplished no great feats of gallantry. He was just a scared kid who went off to war and died before he really knew what life was all about. Let's put aside our beers and barbeques for a few minutes today and remember them too.
A
anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
You’re a good man, my friend.
Wow! I’ll been you could pass this guy on the street and have no idea that he was so heroic.
I never met him but have been told that he was a lovely man, a wonderful grandfather.
There are so many unbelievable stories of bravery and going above the call of duty. This guy’s story makes me shake my head in disbelief: Roy Benavides.
He stepped on a land mine on his first tour in Viet Nam and was supposed to never walk again. He did his own rehab at night until he could walk again, and went back to Viet Nam. Then he rushed in to help his comrades, leaping from a helicopter with only a knife and medical bag. He was wounded so bad that a doctor had pronounced him dead, but Roy couldn’t talk but spat at him as he was zipping up the body bag.
Please read his story at the link below. If this was a movie, not a single person would believe it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Benavidez
He stepped on a land mine on his first tour in Viet Nam and was supposed to never walk again. He did his own rehab at night until he could walk again, and went back to Viet Nam. Then he rushed in to help his comrades, leaping from a helicopter with only a knife and medical bag. He was wounded so bad that a doctor had pronounced him dead, but Roy couldn’t talk but spat at him as he was zipping up the body bag.
Please read his story at the link below. If this was a movie, not a single person would believe it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Benavidez
I read Baseball Reference a lot. They have birthdays listed every day. Within the last two weeks I stumbled upon this player's birthday and looked up his stats. He played in one game in the majors and recorded no offensive or defensive stats but the rest I thought speaks for itself...One of only two MLB players killed in WW2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_O'Neill_(catcher)
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/o'neiha02.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_O'Neill_(catcher)
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/o'neiha02.shtml
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