Medal of Honor to 24 Army veterans: WWII hero First Lieutenant Donald K. Schwab
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| First Lt. Donald K. Schwab |
First Lt. Donald K. Schwab will receive the Medal of
Honor posthumously for his courageous actions while serving as the
Commander of Company E, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division,
during combat operations against an armed enemy near Lure, France on
September 17, 1944.
Schwab, who was 86 when he died in 2005, was a rural mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service.
Schwab is being honored for his actions during combat operations near Lure, France, on Sept. 17, 1944.
Schwab, a first lieutenant, was the commander of Company E, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.
On
that day, Schwab led a dwindling group of men in a charge against a
line of German machine guns, eventually rushing the enemy alone,
according to an account in The Military Times. With his men falling around him, he rushed the enemy alone.
“Ultimately,
he took out a German pistol nest by ripping off its shelter cover,
bludgeoning the gunner with his carbine and dragging him behind friendly
lines amid a hail of gunfire,” the newspaper wrote. “The action so
disorganized the enemy troops that they abandoned their defenses and
withdrew.”
In
addition to the Medal of Honor, Schwab received the Distinguished
Service Cross (this award will be upgraded to the Medal of Honor on Mar. 18), Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart with two Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters,
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one Silver Service
Star, two Bronze Service Stars and Bronze Arrowhead Device, World War II
Victory Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, French Fourragere, Honorable
Service Lapel Button-WWII.
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