President Truman personally welcomed 28 American fighting men into the nation's Hall of Heroes today.
In the crowded East Room of the White House, the Chief Executive solemnly fastened the Medal of Honor, the nation's supreme award for valor, about the necks of 24 heroes from the war in Europe and four from the Pacific battle fronts.
More than 300 mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and sweethearts many of them awed and noticeably nervous sat quietly as the World War II heroes stepped up to the President one by one, saluted and stood stiffly at attention.
Among those receiving the Medals were Sgt. Leonard Funk Jr. of Wilkinsburg, Pa., and Sgt. Robert E. Laws of Altoona, Pa.
Maj. Gen. Edward F. Witsell, acting adjutant general of the U.S. Army, slowly read the citations relating the heroic battle episodes for which each won the coveted award.
Two in Wheelchairs
Two of the award winners did not stand with the others they could not walk and were in wheelchairs. Most of the rest had had to wait until today for the most memorable day of their lives because of wounds suffered in battle. Many are crippled for life.
All of today's heroes were members of the Army. Their 28 awards bring to 196 the number of Medals of Honor awarded to Army personnel since World War II began.
The U.S. Army band played softly in the White House lobby as the heroes and their families were ushered into the East Room.
Mrs. Truman greeted many of them personally as they entered. Then, at 10:05 a.m., the soft strains of "Hail to the Chief" heralded the entrance of the President and the simple ceremony began.
Killed 20, Captured 33
Mr. Truman smiled at the crowd, then looked respectfully at the 28 khaki-clad men to whom he was to award the Medal which he, himself, has said would be a better possession than the Presidency of the United States. The roll was called. First came Sgt. Bernard P. Bell, 33, New York, who last Dec. 18 single-handedly captured a school building at Mittelwihr, France. He then led eight men in a death fight which wiped out a heavily-armed force of 150 Germans.
Sgt. Bell, who personally killed 20 of the enemy and captured 33 on that bloody day, shook a trifle as the President reached behind his head to fasten the blue ribbon flecked with stars. He saluted, shook hands with the Chief Executive and returned to his seat.
The others followed in alphabetical order. Those still bothered by wounds moved a bit more slowly, however.
There was Sgt. James R. Hendrix, Lepanto, Ark., a 20-year-old fighter whose sharecropper neighbors were not surprised that he won the Medal of Honor but were a bit disappointed that he didn't "ketch" Adolf Hitler.
The Arkansas hero wiped out two enemy artillery positions and saved the lives of three comrades when his outfit was assigned the task of relieving the besieged garrison at Bastogne last Dec. 26.
Captain Honored
Capt. Bobbie E. Brown, 42. Columbus, Ga., had 23 years of infantry service behind him when he led Company C, 18th Infantry Regiment of the First Division, into the battle of Aachen last fall. Three times Capt. Brown walked and crawled into the blazing weapons of German pillboxes to destroy them with explosive charges.
He deliberately walked among hidden and concentrated gun positions to draw their fire and to keep the Germans from forming for a counter attack.
One of the Pacific veterans. Pvt. Lloyd G. McCarter. 28. Tacoma, Wash., single-handedly held off an all-night Jap counter attack on Luzon last Feb. 18 and personally killed more than 30 enemy soldiers. Although seriously wounded, he refused to pull out until he had pointed out immediate objectives for the American attack.
Lost Both Feet
Pvt. Silvestre S. Herrera, 28-year-old, 36th (Texas) Division Infantryman of Phoenix. Ari., captured an enemy strong point last March 15 after he had lost both feet in a charge through a mine field near Mertzwiller, France. His heroism bagged eight prisoners and allowed his company to advance.
The highest-ranking member of the contingent of heroes was Lt. Col. George L. Mabry Jr., 28, Hagod, S.C. Last Nov. 24 he led his Second Battalion, Eighth Regiment of the Fourth Infantry (Ivy) Division through a bullet-sprayed minefield in Germany. Single-handedly, Col. Mabry pounced on a group of entrenched Germans and captured them at bayonet point.
Two charging enemy tanks went out of commission at the hands of Pvt. George B. Turner, 46, Los Angeles, last Jan. 3. He smashed a German counter-attack designed to retake the town of Philippsbourg, France.
The youngest officer in the group was Capt. Michael J. Daly, Southport, Conn., who will be 21 next month. Twice wounded, he has won the Silver Star three times. ... he killed 15 Germans, ... three enemy machine guns ... wiped out an entire enemy patrol in sniper-infested Nurenberg.
6 Pillboxes Knocked Out
Six enemy pillboxes were knocked out of action by Capt. Jack L. Treadwell, 25, last March 18. Each of them tossed terrific machine gun fire at him as he advanced. Capt. Treadwell comes from Snyder, Okla.
Lt. Cecil H. Bolton, 29, Huntsville, Ala., did not let his wounds keep him from eliminating two enemy machine-guns and a gun position near the Mark River in Holland Nov. 2.
Blinded by wounds and with his left arm useless, Lt. Eli Whiteley, 32, Georgetown, Tex., promoted his own personal wave of terror and destruction for the Germans at Sigolsheim, France, last fall. His company commander had to knock him out to make him quit.
Stormed 4 Buildings
Lt. Edward C. Dahlgren, 31, Caribou, Me., was a technical sergeant last Feb. 11 when the Texas Division met stubborn resistance near Oberhoffen, France. He led his unit in the rescue of an enemy-surrounded platoon of Yanks and single-handedly stormed four buildings to kill or capture the German garrisons. He killed eight Germans, captured 39 others and wounded an undetermined number. For using his bare hands to rip open a grenade slot in the roof of a Jap pillbox and for knocking out seven other pillboxes in the fighting on Luzon last Feb. 5, Lt. Donald E. Rudolph, Minneapolis, received his Medal of Honor.
The Army used the word "dynamo" to describe five-foot, three-inch Sgt. Funk, 28, of Wilkinsburg, who won the highest award "for the contempt with which he faced more than 100 Germans threatening a rear-attack on his company at Holzheim, Belgium, Jan. 29."
He shot down their officer as the German held a pistol to Sgt. Funk's stomach. His actions so inspired his comrades that they turned on the enemy with knives and any other weapons available. When the scrap ended 40 Germans were on the ground, 21 of them dead.
A Canadian who fought with the 44th Division won the Medal of Honor for going out alone voluntarily to destroy four enemy machine guns near Woelfing, France, last New Year's Day. He was Sgt. Charles A. MacGillivary of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
Counter-Attack Halted
Three companies of German infantry and a dozen enemy tanks started a counter-attack Nov. 12, near Kerling, France, when Sgt. Forrest E. Everharf's platoon had been whittled down to only four men. The 23-year-old Bainbridge, O., hero led the platoon in beating off the attack.
As a squad leader in Company K. 109th Infantry Regiment of the 28th (Keystone) Division, Sgt. Francis J. Clark. 33. Salem, N.Y., saved an entire platoon with which he wasn't even associated last Sept. 12 near the Our River in Luxembourg. The platoon was pinned down by enemy fire and had lost both its lieutenant and platoon sergeant.
Wounded Men Rescued
Sgt. Clark saw its plight and ordered his own outfit to disperse and fire on the enemy. He left his sheltered position to guide the platoon to safety, then returned through enemy fire to carry a wounded man to cover.
Sgt. Robert E. Gerstung, 30, Chicago, fought off a strong enemy force with a machine gun and enabled a company he was supporting to withdraw safely last December at Berg, Germany. Despite a hail of enemy fire and point-blank fire from an enemy tank, the sergeant saved the company.
Sgt. Peter J. Dalessondro, 27, Watervliet, N.Y., earned his Medal of Honor for beating off an enemy counter-attack, saving the lives of three fellow soldiers and then calling for mortar fire on his finally-overrun position last Dec. 22, near Kelterherberg, Germany.
Captured 53 Nazis
As a leader of a platoon of tank destroyers, Sgt. Herschel F. Briles, 31, Ankeny, la., twice entered the hulls of burning tank destroyers to rescue trapped comrades last Nov. 20 and 21 near Scherpenseel, Germany. He alone took 55 German prisoners.
A former sheet metal worker, 24-year-old Sgt. Laws, of Altoona, single-handedly engaged a pillbox full of Japs in a machine gun duel, a hand grenade melee and hand-to-hand struggle to death last Jan. 12. His unit of the 169th Infantry Regiment, 43rd Division, was storming enemy hill positions in Luzon. He killed three Japs and silenced the pillbox.
Another Luzon hero, Sgt. . Raymond H. Cooley, 29, of South Pittsburgh, Tenn., deliberately held an armed hand grenade to avoid wounding his fellow soldiers. He lost his right hand. This happened just after Cooley had knocked out a Jap machine gun position unaided.
Saved Wounded Soldier
A German shell knocked out Sgt. Herbert H. Burr's tank in Germany last March 19, but he put it back in operation, overran a German gun position and saved the life of a fellow soldier who had been wounded. Sgt. Burr's home is in Kansas City. Mo.
Sgt. Claude L. Choate, 25, Anna, Ill., won the medal for knocking out a German tank near Bruyeres, France, last Oct. 25. The tank was overrunning shallow American foxholes. The sergeant crippled it with Bazooka fire then approached under its cannon and machine gun fire. He killed members of the crew as they attempted to flee and dropped a hand grenade into the tank's turret.
Sgt. Paul L. Bolden, 23, Madison, Ala., killed 35 Germans to enable his company to advance last Dec. 23 in the outskirts of Petit-Coo.
Paved Way for Advance
A Mexican-born cotton farmer, Sgt. Marcario Garcia, 25, Sugarland, Tex., made possible what the Army called "one of the outstanding American victories of the Hurtgen Forest last fall." Sgt. Garcia single-handedly flanked an enemy position near Grosshau, Germany, to destroy a machine gun position and permit his company to advance.
Sgt. Ralph G. Neppel, 21, former Iowa farm worker, ignored a charging tank and wiped out 20 Germans who were assaulting his position near Birgel, Germany, last Dec. 14. He was blasted from his gun position by a high velocity shell from the tank.
Right Leg Severed
A fragment severed his right leg below the knee. With the enemy closing in only 33 yards away, he dragged himself to his gun, killed the remaining Germans, and without the support of riflemen forced the tank to withdraw.
Sgt. Arthur O. Beyer, 36. Ogema. Minn., was an artilleryman by assignment but was fighting as an infantryman last Jan. 15 in Belgium when he stalked a string of German foxholes, killing eight Germans and capturing 18 others.
