Army, I am the nephew, namesake and inheritor of my Uncle Joe's Purple Heart. My Uncle was with the 12th Armored Div. 66th Armored Inf. Battalion Hq. Company. He was Killed in action on April 29, 1945 after being shot in the neck by a sniper at Brenner Pass. My Uncle is buried in France at a millitary cemetery outside St. Avold. Although I never knew him through research I have found people who did and am grateful to the men who saved our way of life. He is my hero.

Eame Theather Ribbon w/4 Bronze Stars per WD GO #33/45; Combat Infantryman Badge and Purple Heart per GO #9 Hq, 30 Fld Hosp/45. My father died 1980.

Marines, The morning of 14 December, 1944, the japs, fearing an attack, herded all 150 American POW's into air-raid tunnels, poured gasoline on them and set the men on fire. Nine men escaped and lived to tell of this incident. My Father was not one of the escapees. The remains of these men are buried in the largest mass grave at Jefferson Barracks National cemetery, MO.

Was wounded when he ran over a mine two times, received shrapnel injuries to his legs. General Lewis Walt gave him both Purple Hearts.

My dad, Harry Rudolph (Rudy) Albright, was a 1st Lt., in Co. A, 337th Inf. 85th Div. Army, when he was killed south of Rome, near Minturno, Italy. The assault on the Gustav Line was started at 11 pm, 11 May, 1944. This was a brutal battle, with our infantry troops moving up Hills 66 and 69, against well-entrenched German troops. When the hills were captured, my dad's body was discovered on Hill 69, and date of death was estimated as 12 May.

USMC C company 1st battalion 5th Marines, arrived Korea 4th Marine replacement draft assigned to 60 mm mortar section 1st platoon I was squad leader. We took a direct hit from a Chinese 88 mortaron Sept. 11, 1951, 6 of us got it, some worse than others. I was lucky, no lasting disabilities.

U.S. Army 1952 - 1972 continous active duty, Army commendation W/V at Hoc Mon, RVN, 1963.

Army, T/Sgt. Walter D. Amiotte was a tank driver for the 2nd Armored Div. 67th Regt. M (Maintence) Co. His tank name was" Momma" He was with "Hell on Wheels" from the Normandy Breakout up to his tank getting hit outside of Magdeburg Germany. This action took place near the end of March 1945. What scared him the most was the jeep driver who rushed him back from the front immediately after the incident. Apparently the driver had strapped my father down to the cot in the back and took off like the proverbial "Bat out of Hell". His knee had been shattered by some inmovable piece of the drivers compartment. He received his Purple Heart 25 yrs. later. It seems when they where operating on him at the Phoenix Ariz. V.A. hospital in the early 70's it occured to him that he never really received the medal itsef. So through the help of the Disabled Veterans of America, my father received his hard earned Purple Heart. Walter D. Amiotte was born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation {Oglala Lakota/Sioux}) on January 5th, 1920. He passed away on September 16th, 1994 in the Phoenix, Ariz. V.A. Hospital. His Medal and his campaign ribbons and photos of him as a young warrior proudly hang on my living room wall. For the past two years I have had a chance to tour the Normandy area of France and each time T/Sgt. Walter D. was with me. Thank You for this chance to put my fathers story on line.

Wounded while participating on Operation Taylor Common with Lima/Yankee Battery, Fourth Battallion, Eleventh Marines.

David was my husband. He was a combat medic in VietNam for over a year. He joined the army when he was 18, before he could be drafted and on July 4, 1970 he flew to VietNam. He served as a medic for the 25th Battalion (Tropical Lightning), the same unit that was depicted in Born on the Fourth of July. The story of how he received his purple hearts is a gruesome one and it affected the rest of his life. He was hit with pieces of a large shell that had already destroyed the person in front of him. They sent him to Japan to recover from shrapnel wounds to his face, arm, leg, and buttock, but as he put it "I wasn't dead enough yet so they sent me back." The second incident for which he received a purple heart he would never tell me about. Based on some of the horror stories he did tell me, it must have been awful. He suffered from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) for the rest of his life. It took him over 20 years of fighting to get the VA to recognize his disability and begin compensating him for it. He was murdered on November 3, 1994 by four teenagers he had found stranded on the highway. After taking them to the house we had built together and feeding them, clothing them, and trying to find them work, they decided they would just steal what he had. They beat him unconcious, pulled out the phone cord and left him face down in a shag carpet where he suffocated. They took the time to eat, load up his new truck with anything and everything of value, plus all the food they could carry and busting through the gate they had the key to, took off. Once I got to the house and started cleaning it up (It had been trashed) I found enough clues to track down the grandfather of the teens (An envelope in the fireplace with his address on it. They had stolen their grandfather's truck and driven it until it ran out of gas, and that's when David found them on the highway. At any rate, I turned in the information I had to the State Police and they went to the home of the grandfather after Thanksgiving and the kids had returned. (We had been notified that David's truck had been found abandoned and trashed in San Bernadino, CA.) They confessed, were arrested, and after about 2 and a half years of trials, plea bargains, etc. 3 of the teens were tried as children and received 2-3 years (until their 18th birthday) and the oldest one, who was actually the one who beat him, was tried as an adult, plea bargained from capital murder to involuntary manslaughter and received 6 years. He will be out in 2.

Co. D, 775th Tank Bn., Honorably discharged on December 22, 1945; was also awarded Good Conduct Medal, Phillipines Liberation Medal with 1 Bronze Star, American Theatre Service Medal, Asiactic Pacific Theatre Service Medal, & Victory Medal.

Army, Command Sergeant Major (CSM) Appleman served twenty six and half years of faithful and dedicated service, rising to the highest enlisted rank of CSM in 16 years, the average being 22 years of service. His positions of responsibility during his ten years as Command Sergeant Major were: CSM of the Southern Command, Six Battalions, Three Brigades and one Installation. His military career was Infantry and he served in every position in a rifle company to include First Sergeant. He served on Battalion and brigade Staff as Operations/Intelligence Staff Officer and CSM. He served two tours in Vietnam, other foreign tours include: Korea two tours, Japan, Oakinawa, Taiwan (Formosa), Thailand, Alaska, Germany and Panama. CSM Appleman served in the 101st ABN DIV as CSM of the following units: Two combat tours Vietnam as CSM 1/327 INF and 2/327 INF. Also served as CSM 1st BDE and 101st AVN GP. Other units of the 101st ABN DIV 501st ABN INF, 502nd ABN Battle Group, 2 BN 502 ABN INF and 1st BN 187 RCT (Japan). Other Divisions Include: 5th RCT (Korea, 24th and 7th Divisions (Korea, 25th DIV (Vietnam, 1st BN 325 ABN INF REG, 82 ABN DIV, 173rd ABN INF BG, 5th INF, 193rd INF and Southern Command. His awards for honorable service are Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, Vitnamese Honor Medal w/Silver Star, Cross of Gallantry, Vietnamese Bronze Star for gallantry in war, CIB, Master Parachute Badge, EIB and numerous awards. Retired Army Aug. 30, 1977.

Most of the time George was in Kumwha Valley and later in Eastern sector near Pyon Yang.

George was trained as a Forward Observer in the areas of Sight, Sound and Radar. He also underwent 30 days of "medic training" at Camp Shenodyana near Osaka, Japan. After this training he departed Sasebo, Japan by boat to Puran, Korea and went by train to Northern South Korea and subsequently to the First Field Observation Battalion which covered the entire line of resistance in Korea from coast to coast.

He was assigned to C Battery which at that time was covering the central section in the Kumwha Valley. On April 8, 1952 George was assigned to a forward observation post.

George suffered head wounds due to enemy artillery or mortar fire while serving at an outpost as a forward observer charged with the duty of directing the battalion's artillery fire in Tochang-Ni, North Korea. He was then hospitalized in either Korea or Japan and did return to the battalion as a supply sergeant.

He was separated from duty in Fort Riley on June 17, 1953.

George was also awarded: Korean United Nations Service medal, Korean National Defense (1950-1954), Army Good Conduct Medal, Korean Service Medal with 2 bronze stars, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon

George died on October 13, 1998 from complications of two massive strokes. He is my HERO !!

Willard was a member of Merrill's Marauders. He was killed March 1944 in a skirmish with an enemy force that greatly out numbered his unit. Prior to going to Burma, he was stationed in Trinidad where he was instrumental in building and operating the post exchange. Although he is gone, he will never be forgotten.

Was also awarded: Silver Star, Combat Infantry Badge, Korean Service medal w/ 3 Bronze stars, Good Conduct medal, United Nations service medal, United States Distinguished Service medal & Republic of Korea Distinguished service medal.

I am the only son of the recipient. He was KIA when I was 3 years old. He was with Hq. Co. 532nd Anti Aircraft Artillery-Automatic Weapons Battalion, 5th Army from Nov. of 1943 to January of 1945. During that time he was a participant in the Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, North Apennines, and Po Valley campaigns. In Jan of 1945 the 532nd became Hq. Co. 2nd Btn, 473rd Infantry Regiment and it was with that unit that he was killed by shell fragments.

Army, Co. D, 152nd Infantry. I found this metal in my mother's attic in the original box with a copy of the war department letter direction. The letter is dated Sept. 14 1939, and has the designation of NMB 1-214. I would like to find Mr. Augenstein's family so I can send them the metal.