Most Decorated Soldiers

hey, the child must have a name

and i'm still wonderd what he did. breaked trough omaha, raced to berlin, killed hitler and goebbles, capture Goerring and liberate the concentration camps??? that are only six things so we already have six purple hearts

 

Hi Quillin,

Purple Hearts are awarded to soldiers who have been wounded in combat. IIRC didn't George Washington start it off?

 

didn't know that. okay, time to change my theory. euhm, leet us assume that he was wounded every time he did one of those actions and two times for hitler => eva Braun was also in that room

 

Actually, a purple heart was awarded for every wound inflicted by the enemy - getting two wounds from one bullet would yield two purple hearts. In Band of Brothers, one soldier even got a purple heart for a boil on his leg, but I'm sure that was a freak incident...

 

A 1941 graduate of Cornell University, within a week of graduation Matt Urban was at Ft. Bragg, N.C. and on to Operation Torch in North Africa, where he recieved two Silver Stars for his actions. From there he and the 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division moved to Sicily, France, Belgium and Germany. He served with this regiment during six campaigns in the Mediterranean and European theaters of operation during World War II, rising to the rank of Lt. Col and the position of battalion commander before he was severely wounded Sept. 3, 1944.

Typical of Urban's service were actions on D-Day, where he landed with his men on Omaha beach. He suffered a broken leg in a landing mishap, but with his men trapped on the beach, Urban got up on top of a tank and led them in an attack on German positions and off the beach.

In many subsequent encounters, Urban's battlefield leadership skill and his uncanny ability to frustrate German plans caused the enemy to give him the nickname "the Gray Ghost." Lt. Col. Urban was wounded six times and six times he went back to the front lines. The seventh time he was wounded, he was shot in the throat and the bullet tore out a vocal cord. Army doctors gave Urban no hope for survival. But he recovered two years later with damaged vocal cords which left him raspy-voiced to the end of his days.

During the period 14 June to 3 September 1944, Captain Matt Urban distinguished himself by a series of bold, heroic actions, exemplified by singularly outstanding combat leadership, personal bravery, and a tenacious devotion to duty, while assigned to the 2d Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division.

On 14 June, Captain Urban’s company, attacking at Renouf, France, encountered heavy enemy small arms and tank fire. The enemy tanks were unmercifully raking his unit’s positions and inflicting heavy casualties. Captain Urban, realizing that his company was in imminent danger of being decimated, armed himself with a bazooka. He worked his way with an ammo carrier through hedgerows, under a continuing barrage of fire, to a point near the tanks. He brazenly exposed himself to the enemy fire and, firing the bazooka, destroyed both tanks. Responding to Captain Urban’s actions, his company moved forward and routed the enemy.

Later that same day, still in the attack near Orglandes, Captain Urban was wounded in the leg by direct fire from a 37mm tank-gun. He refused evacuation and continued to lead his company until they moved into defensive positions for the night. At 0500 hours the next day, Captain Urban, though badly wounded, directed his company in another attack. One hour later he was again wounded. Suffering from two wounds, one serious, he was evacuated to England.

In mid-July, while recovering from his wounds, he learned of his unit’s severe losses in the hedgerows of Normandy. Realizing his unit’s need for battle-tested leaders, he voluntarily left the hospital and hitchhiked his way back to his unit near St. Lo, France. Arriving at the 2d Battalion Command Post at 1130 hours, 25 July, he found that his unit had jumped-off at 1100 hours in the first attack of "Operation Cobra." Still limping from his leg wound, Captain Urban made his way forward to retake command of his company. He found his company held up by strong enemy opposition. Two supporting tanks had been destroyed and another, intact but with no tank commander or gunner, was not moving. He located a lieutenant in charge of the support tanks and directed a plan of attack to eliminate the enemy strongpoint. The lieutenant and a sergeant were immediately killed by the heavy enemy fire when they tried to mount the tank. Captain Urban, though physically hampered by his leg wound and knowing quick action had to be taken, dashed through the scathing fire and mounted the tank. With enemy bullets ricocheting from the tank, Captain Urban ordered the tank forward and, completely exposed to the enemy fire, manned the machine gun and placed devastating fire on the enemy. His actions, in the face of the enemy fire, galvanized the battalion into action and they attacked and destroyed the enemy position.

On 2 August, Captain Urban was wounded in the chest by shell fragments and, disregarding the recommendation of the Battalion Surgeon, again refused evacuation. On 6 August, Captain Urban became the commander of the 2d Battalion.

On 15 August, he was again wounded but remained with his unit. On 3 September, the 2nd Battalion was given the mission of establishing a crossing-point on the Meuse River near Heer, Belgium. The enemy planned to stop the advance of the allied Army by concentrating heavy forces at the Meuse. The 2d Battalion, attacking toward the crossing-point, encountered fierce enemy artillery, small arms and mortar fire which stopped the attack. Captain Urban quickly moved from his command post to the lead position of the battalion. Reorganizing the attacking elements, he personally led a charge toward the enemy’s strong-point. As the charge moved across the open terrain, Captain Urban was seriously wounded in the neck. Although unable to talk above a whisper from the paralyzing neck wound, and in danger of losing his life, he refused to be evacuated until the enemy was routed and his battalion had secured the crossing-point on the Meuse River.

His valorous actions in France and Belgium in 1944 had not been recognized with a military decoration for heroism except for a Bronze Star Medal he received for the ction of June 14, 1944.

The day after Urban was medically evacuated, his battalion sustained severe casualties and many of his soldiers were taken prisoner by the German Army. One of these prisoners was Staff Sgt. Earl G. Evans, who had served with Urban during much of his battalion's wartime service in Europe and Africa.

When Evans was repatriated to the United States in July 1945, he prepared a letter recommending Urban for the Medal of Honor. This letter was sent to the adjutant general of the Army and from there was forwarded to the commanding general of the 9th Infantry Division, which was still in Europe at that time.

Evan's letter apparently never arrived at the 9th Infantry Division, as a records search some 35 years later failed to turn up a clue as to any action that had ever been taken on the recommendation that Urban be awarded at the Medal of Honor. A copy of the letter was filed in Urban's official records, however, and remained there until Urban submitted a request for information on the award in June 1978 to Department of the Army.

After Urban's request for information and his official file were reviewed by the Army Military Awards Branch, the original recommendation was found and a lengthy process was begun to reconstruct the events described in Evans' recommendation.

Since the Medal of Honor is the highest decoration for valor in the United States, detailed evidence of the performance of the act or acts is essential. Eyewitness statements or affidavits, as well as other documents from official records, must supply this evidence that the act or acts justify the Medal of Honor. In Urban's case, this task was made considerably more difficult than would ordinarily be the case since the recommendation involved heroism performed more that 35 years before.

As the pieces of the puzzle were assembled by the Army Awards Branch, a most dramatic picture of Urban emerged. He had clearly established himself as an outstanding combat leader who was fearless and highly esteemed by his men.

The eyewitness statements, even though they were prepared many years after the fact, show a remarkable consistency in what they describe. In each case, Urban's fearlessness is related in detail, but his concern for the welfare and safety of his men and his ability to inspire them to their best efforts are just as clearly demonstrated.

From a legal standpoint, the recommendation on Urban met all requirements of the law. Public Law (Title 10, USC) stipulates that a Medal of Honor may be awarded if a statement setting forth the act to be recognized is made within two years of the act and that records indicate the individual is entitled to the award. This same Public Law permits consideration of a recommendation for award of the Medal of Honor if the secretary of the Army determines that a statement was made within two years of the act to be recognized and no award was made because the statement was lost or through inadvertence, the recommendation was not acted upon.

President Jimmy Carter awarded the Medal Of Honor to Lt. Col. Urban July 19, 1980, at 9:30 a.m. in the Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C.

 

Sadly yes the generals plane the battle the walk over the dead soldiers bodies to get the awards

 

at last he got the MoH. a little late but what the heck. Urban was one hell of a guy

 

Ricky wrote:

Roel wrote:

You are correct that George Washington originated it however at that time the Purple Heart was an award for valor. It was later changed to it's present form which is for wounds as a result of hostile action. The wound does not have to be inflicted directly by the enemy but must occur during hostile action by the enemy IIRC. If a Heart was awarded for a boil in reality then that would be an aberration as one does not typically receive a PH for illness, non combat related accidents etc. Also AFAIK one does not receive 2 hearts for two wounds made by the same bullet( though I could be wrong).

 

I love this forum...

thanks for the info Grieg!

 

Roel wrote:

You are correct, it is indeed a misnomer. Congress has nothing to do with the Medal of Honor. I think it was the press that mistakenly began using the term Congressional Medal of Honor.

 

one little mistake has big results since nobody ever changed that mistake. oh what the heck, most people just say the Medal of Honour

 

It really had no effect whatsover. It was just a label that the press began using, perhaps thinking it sounded more important if Congress awarded it...who knows?

 

I did a quick net search on this, and found that the wording used in official paperwork when a Medal of Honor is awarded is:

"The President of the United States in the name of the Congress takes pleasure in presenting
the Medal of Honor To: [insert name]"

Could this be where it comes from? As it is indirectly presented by/from Congress?
Or is that true of all US medals (I assume so) - imagine the 'Congressional Silver Star'!

 

Ricky wrote:

Good find Ricky. I wasn't aware of that wording and it seems logical that it is where the mistaken idea came from that Congress awarded the medal.

 

Just a note:
Hans rudels iron cross was stolen by american soldiers when he surrendered to them.
I read his book, those 510 tanks he destroyed were confirmed kills meaning there was another german to witness the destruction he had another 300+ unconfirmed one's .

There was a german fighter pilot who shot down ( confirmed) 350+ planes, forgot his name. Heh americans shoot down 3 they get an Ace title this guy shoots down 350 he must be super ace or something.

 

OK, for a start you're wrong about the Ace status. No-one quite seems to know where or when it started but the accepted number for all airforces (including the USAAC/USAAF/USN/USMC) that counted a pilot's kills was 5, not 3. I understand a further, less accepted convention is that 25 kills is an "Ace of Aces", my knowledge outside WWII is particularly shakey, but I believe imperial German pilots were awarded the "Blue Max" for reaching this score.

Even Rudel's "Confirmed Kills" doesn't necessarily mean actually destroyed... I have a fear we are going to go back over old ground on this one.

The German ace you are referring to was Erich Hartmann (352 Kills), but as I get tired of saying elsewhere, you cannot compare the scores of Western pilots to Luftwaffe pilots because the two fought such vastly different wars.

German pilots fought from (In many cases) before the start of war and were in combat more or less constantly throughout, often against inferior enemy aircraft or pilots or both and in a relatively target rich environment. The flew and fought and scored kills until the war ended or they died, whichever happened first.

Allied pilots were frequently rotated from operational units to serve quite lengthy periods as instructors in training squadrons. Their opportunities to score kills were fewer, their combat environment not so target-rich, but this is the reason that throughout the war Allied pilot quality steadily improved, and Luftwaffe pilot quality dramatically deteriorated. This is also a reason that a lot more of the Allies aces survived the war.

In the case of USAAF pilots in the ETO, really they only had about three years of combat sorties to score their kills, being rotated back to train new pilots the US after 25 missions. IIRC Most did not return for a second tour. Fewer still returned for a third or fourth.

Compare this to German aces, those who started with the Condor Legion had the best part of ten years of combat flying.

Try to leave out or word differently comments like "Heh americans shoot down 3 they get an Ace title", that does come across as a bit sneery toward the US, not to mention being incorrect.

 

I apologize if i had offended anyone. with my remarks.

I believe most of hartmans kills were from the russian front, so was Rudels, which is a very target rich enviroment. But the fact that the german aces could survive so long (rudel survived the war) after going thrue so much speaks for them self. the german aces had to face 3-1 odds every other day.

I have to ask ( and i no way meaning to belittle them ), would the allied pilot performed as well with such odds.

But i suppose the law of nature applies, as that the war progresses the weakest will die off and the toughest survive. I am very sure if the allies had longer tours and the same target enviroment some of them would have also acheived impressive scores.

 

Quite probably, yes, if not better as a whole because of the system of rotating experienced pilots back to train subsequent batches among Allied Air forces, plus odds of 3-1 mean that potentially you can score 3 times as many kills. Against an enemy whose training is inferior and aircraft are often inferior, that makes for a target-rich environment where you have a good chance of taking down your opponents, if you are a skilled pilot like Hartmann.

Significantly as well, the German Aces were not facing 3-1 odds in numbers throughout the war, and certainly not in pilot quality. Describing the air battles of Barbarossa one German pilot reportedly commented on the quality of the Soviet Pilots that the dogfights were more like "Infanticide". Considering the relatively poor quality too of the aircraft of Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and even excluding the Hurricane and Spitfire of Great Britain, it is not surprising that the Luftwaffe scored so highly.

A better indicator rather than just pure kills, is kills per sortie, in which case Hartmann comes out quite close to Bong (One is slightly higher than the other, but I forget which way round it is) and McGuire, bear in mind again that the Pilots Bong and McGuire were facing were generally a higher caliber than those Hartmann was facing, then yes there is every indication that the Allies had aces of the standard of Hartmann and given the opportunity could have scored as highly.

 

This statement is certainly true for Operation Barbarossa, and probably for Poland too.
But I don't think the Luftwaffe pilotes had an easy game in the west in 1940.

For example, the french air force lost some 415 planes in air combat(+ 230 on the ground + 240 by accidents).
In the meantime french figthers downed some 675 german planes which shows that apparently german figther pilots had a rather hard time during the 1940 campaign.

 

How many of those Luftwaffe aircraft lost were bombers though? The books I have read make it clear that the although the Bloch Mb152 and Dewoitine D.520 were pretty good fighters, the Ms.406 that made up the majority of the French fighter force were completely outclassed by the Bf109s.

Similarly the Hurricanes that formed the bulk of the fighters of the advanced air striking force didn't even have the performance of the Battle of Britain Hurricanes due to the inferior fixed-pitch propellors (Some sources give up to 25mph slower!).