General Orders 1946 - Fort Benning

1
GEXEBAL ORDERS
WAR DEPARTMENT
No. 16 Wasm~a~oa 25, D. C., 8 February 1946
Section
MEDAL OF HONOR-Po~th~mons award8 .............................. I
MEDAL OF HOPiOR-~1\vard ............................................ I1
I n
s - A
. ~
.................................................... VI
BRONZE STAR MEDAI-Awards .......................................... VII
AIR MEDAL-Amrds .-. VllI
AIR QIEDSL (OAK-LEAF CLUSTER)-Awards ......................... IX
DISTINGUISHED-SERVICE MEDAL (OAK~LEAF CLUSTER)-Eeseissios of
w a d ................................................................. X
LEGION OF MERIT-Resci3sion of nivnrd .................................. XI
BRONZE STAR NEDALRereissi,m of ~lwnl-d ........................... XI1
[..MEDAL OF HONOR.-By direction of the President, undcr the Drorisions
of the act of Congress approved 9 Ju'y 11118 (WD Rnl. 43, 1!318), a Medal of
Honor for conspir~ons gallantry and intrepidity at thc risk of life aboye and
beyond the call of dntr was awarded nosthumouslv bv the War Deuartment in
.. " -
~
the name of ConbTess to the following-named enlisted men:
Private Raulge .I. Peters (Am17 serial KO. 31297689), a ~lntoon rndio operator
with Company G, RMth Parachute Infnntry Regiment, .4rmy of the United States,
made a descent into Germany near Fluren, east of the Rhine, on 24 March 1915.
With 10 others, he landed in a field about 75 yards from a German machine gun
supported by riflemen and was immediately pinned down by heavy, direct flre.
The position of the small unit seemed hopeless, with men struggling to free
themselves of their parachutes in a hall of bullets which cut them off from their
nearby equipment bundles, when Private Petem stood up, without orders, and
began a one-man riiargengainst -. the hoslile emolacement armed only with a ~ i0e
and grenades. His single-handed assault Immediately drew the emmy fire away
from his comrades. He had run halfway lo his objective, pitting rifle fire against
that of the m:tchine gull, when he w%s struck and knocked to the ground by n
burst. Heroically, he regained his feet and struggled onward. Once more he
was torn by bullets and this time he was unable to rise. With gallant devotion
to his self-imposed mission, he crawled directly into the fire which had mortnlly
wounded him, until close enough to hurl grenades which knmked out the machine
gun, killed two of its oneratore. and drove orotectins riflemen from their nosi-
to reach their eQuipnlent, organize, and seize their Erst ohjrctive.
Private First Class Jose P. Valdez (Army serial No. 3835214133, Cornparty B,
7th Infantry Regiment, Army of the United States, was an outpast duty with
five others near Rosenkmmilz, France, on 25 January 1'245, when the enemy
eol1nterattackel vith overwhelming st~engtb. From his position nrnr Some
moods 500 yards beyond the American liim, he observed a hostile tank alrout
75 yards away and raked it wlth automatic rifle flre until it wilhdrew. Soon
afterward, he saw three Germans stealthily aprmaehing through the woods.
Scorning corer as the enemy soldiers anencd up with heayy automatic-~l'rilpons
fire from a range of 30 yards, hc engaged in a tire fight with the attaekcrs until
he had k'illed all three. The enemy quickly launched an attack with two Ml
companies of infantrymen, blasting the patrol with murderous concentmtwns
of nutomatic and rifie fire and beginnins an encitding movement which for&
the patrol leader to order a withdmnml. Despite the terrible odds, Private
Vddez immediately valuuteered to cover the maneuver, and, as the patrol, one
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