From: Otis Willie deawatch@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2002 3:41 PM
Subject: [vetissues] L.A. man to receive Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously
L.A. man to receive Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously
(EXCERPT) ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 1, 2002
LOS ANGELES – An Army medic whose heroics during the Battle of Saipan in World War II have gone unrecognized for nearly 60 years will be given the Congressional Medal of Honor during ceremonies Wednesday at the White House.
Army Capt. Ben Louis Salomon sacrificed his life to save patients when 5,000 Japanese troops launched an overwhelming charge. Salomon, a senior medical officer of the 107th Infantry Division, was in a tent station when the enemy troops attacked and he ordered enlisted medics to evacuate the wounded to a rear area.
The two machine gunners assigned to defend his aid station were killed, so Salomon told his medics he would man a machine gun.
"I'll hold them off until you get them to safety," Salomon told the medics. "See you later."
Salomon's patients and medics all made it safely out of... U.S. and friendly nation laws prohibit fully reproducing copyrighted material. In abidance with our laws this report cannot be provided in its entirety. However, you can read it in full today, 01 Apr 2002, at the following URL. (COMBINE the following lines into your web browser.) The subject/content of this report is not necessarily the viewpoint of the distributing Library. This report is provided for your information and discussion.
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Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com