Nation’s Heroes Deflect Glory to Their Buddies

Staff Sgt. Walter D. Ehlers charged machine-gun nests in France, killed four Germans and was shot in the back. Then he carried a wounded squad member to safety.

Lance Cpl. Richard A. Pittman’s citation reads like a script from an old World War II movie showing the Marine zigzagging up the beach with bullets spraying sand near his feet. Those who read about his daring feat in Vietnam on July 24, 1966, could conclude that Pittman was either brave or crazy.

Gunnery Sgt. Jimmie E. Howard’s acts of bravery on Vietnam’s Hill 488, an observation post deep within enemy-controlled territory, helped his platoon become the most decorated in U.S. military history.

Encouraged Others

Overcoming fear and confusion of the battlefield, these men emerged as leaders whose actions encouraged others to fight on in the face of overwhelming odds.

All are winners of the Medal of Honor, America’s highest military award for bravery.

About 150 of the 240 living recipients will gather Thursday in Orange County to attend the 15th biennial convention of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

During the four-day event, centered at the Irvine Hilton, Medal of Honor recipients will visit more than two-dozen public schools in Orange County to talk to students, attend a celebration at the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro featuring displays by all military services and be honored in a boat parade next Sunday in Newport Harbor.

Secretary of the Navy James H. Webb Jr. will be the featured speaker at the society’s banquet Saturday and will be presented with the society’s highest award for patriotism. Webb, a former Marine lieutenant, is a Vietnam veteran who received the Navy Cross, Silver Star, two Bronze Star Medals and two Purple Hearts.

U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) will speak at a ceremony next Sunday honoring those who have received the medal.

The first Medal of Honor was awarded in 1863. Since then, 3,406 more have been awarded to members of the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force.

In a series of interviews, past winners attempted to downplay what they had done, pointing out not once, but again and again, that they were part of a team effort, a mission, a goal that had to be accomplished. Medal recipients repeatedly said that wars and battles are won by many soldiers, not just one.

They talked about the brotherhood between fighting men and the unbending trust that develops between combat soldiers who are willing to die for each other, as many did.

‘Good Bunch of People’

“I wasn’t by myself. I had a damned good bunch of young people there,” said Howard, who retired as a first sergeant and is now 58. He recalled the darkness of June 15, 1966, when he and 17 other Marines fought off wave after wave of soldiers from a North Vietnamese battalion.

“They did the job, and I was blessed to have them,” Howard said of his platoon in an interview in his San Diego home. He clearly remembered the first night his platoon reached the forward observation point on Hill 488. Almost immediately, the Marines spotted rows of hurricane lamps moving in the darkness below. The lights were a preview of what was to come.

The official description of the battle said:

Howard “constantly shouted encouragement to his men and exhibited imagination and resourcefulness in directing their return fire. When fragments of an exploding enemy grenade wounded him severely and prevented him from moving his legs, he distributed his ammunition to the remaining members of his platoon and proceeded to maintain radio communications and direct air strikes on the enemy with uncanny accuracy.”

Members of the heavily decorated platoon received four Navy Crosses, 13 Silver Stars and Howard’s Medal of Honor. Six died, and everyone in the platoon was wounded by rifle, machine-gun fire or grenades during the all-night battle.

Why do some men emerge as heroes?

“It was what I was supposed to do,” Pittman, now a 42-year-old master sergeant at Camp Pendleton, replied when pressed about why he ran down a Vietnam jungle path and into enemy fire to reach other Marines who had been surrounded by the enemy.

“That day or that incident was just something that somebody had to do. I just did it. I knew somebody had to do something. Combat was kind of always instinctive for me. I just was always able to function under that pressure.”

After Lance Cpl. Pittman “left the relative safety of his platoon and rushed forward to aid his comrades,” his citation notes, “he was suddenly confronted with an . . . attack by 30 or 40 enemy. He established a position in the middle of the trail and raked the advancing enemy with devastating machine-gun fire.”

The citation said he “inflicted many enemy casualties, disrupted the enemy’s attack and saved the lives of many of his wounded comrades.”

“It seemed that the year I was in combat it was instinctive to me. I don’t know where it came from,” Pittman said, adding that even when he was a child he prided himself on standing and fighting for principles. “Truth and justice and the American way, so to speak. I knew if I did not do something, not me particularly, (but if) somebody did not do something, we were just going to die. I was not going to go without a fight.”

It was a cool, overcast day June 9, 1944, near Goville, France, as 23-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Walter D. Ehlers and his squad made their way from hedgerow to hedgerow. Just days before, Ehlers and his men had landed on Omaha beach during the Normandy invasion. His assignment was to lead his men inland as fast as possible and report information about German defenses.

The squad had put considerable distance between itself and its platoon. Ehlers started to move ahead of the rest of his squad as they covered him with gunfire.

Triumph in Retreat

He killed four Germans as he crawled forward under machine-gun fire. He then pounced on the gun crew, putting it out of action. Turning his attention to two mortars that were protected by the cross fire of two enemy machine guns, Ehlers led his men through the machine-gun fire and killed the mortar crew.

He advanced on another machine gun. As he reached the position, he leaped to his feet and--although greatly outnumbered--knocked out the position.

Because of heavy enemy fire, the platoon was forced to withdraw. As his squad retreated with the platoon, Ehlers covered the movement of his men by standing up and firing in a semicircle, diverting the bulk of enemy fire to himself and allowing the members of his squad to withdraw. Even though he was hit in the back by an enemy sniper bullet, Ehlers carried a wounded member of his squad to safety and then returned over a shell-devastated field to retrieve an automatic rifle he had been unable to carry.

Ehlers said he was so close to the Germans during the two days of fighting that he could smell the licorice they used in their bread and other foods.

Some people operate better in combat than others, said Ehlers, now 66 and living in Buena Park.

“It is sort of like a boxer taking a beating. Some boxers can take a lot of head punches, and some of them can’t. I think people are built that way. Some people naturally have the ability . . . that they can handle the situation, and others can’t.”

Heroes are not confined to foxholes and battlefield hills.

Former pilot Kenneth Walsh of Santa Ana become one of the Marine Corps’ greatest aces, racking up 21 confirmed kills of Japanese planes as he flew missions in the area of the Solomon Islands during World War II.

Walsh, now 70, was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1962 after reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel.

The battle citation, which was read at the White House ceremony 43 years ago, said in part:

“Determined to thwart the enemy’s attempt to bomb Allied ground forces and shipping at Vella Lavella . . . 1st. Lt. Walsh repeatedly dived his plane into an enemy formation outnumbering his own division six to one, and, although his plane was hit numerous times,” continued to fight, shooting down two Japanese dive bombers and one fighter.”

Weeks later, he was flying a vital escort mission when his fighter developed mechanical trouble. He landed and commandeered another plane. While trying to rejoin the mission, he encountered 50 Japanese fighters, which he engaged, destroying four of them. Cannon shellfire made his aircraft unflyable, and he had to ditch it in the sea off Vella Lavella. He was later picked up by rescue boats.

Walsh said success in combat can be proportional to the amount of training received.

But beyond that, he says, there is a “hell of a lot of luck.”