American Valor Quarterly Issue 12 - Spring 2015 | Page 29

THEIR SLEDS LOADED WITH AMMUNITION, MEN OF THE 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION MARCH THROUGH THE SNOW NEAR HERRESBACH,
BELGIUM, ON JANUARY 28, 1945.

National Archives

before we knew it, we found ourselves
in the middle of a German army. I
was the platoon leader with about 25
soldiers with me. A buddy of mine led
a platoon just behind me with roughly
the same number of men. Despite
fighting outnumbered, in the midst of
250 Germans, we opened fire in all
directions and the Germans panicked.
It was a slaughter. Bodies were
everywhere.
At one point, a German tank came
off a side road and started firing at us
from a machine gun turret. Most of my
men took cover. Since I was platoon
leader and I recognized this tank was a
threat to us, I instinctively charged the
tank. I say instinctively because at this
point I had been in combat for almost
two years and nothing was done by the
book anymore. Every soldier in the heat
of combat finds himself responding to
SPRING 2015

situations as the moment arises.
I was able to do this because there
was a concealed wooded area where
I could duck in and out to get close
enough to this tank where I could
throw a Gammon Grenade I had in my
pocket. The goal was to hit the side of
the tank and disable its movement. I
did that, and when I saw the German
soldier drop from the turret I was
able to get close enough where I could
throw a second grenade into the turret.
I believe there were five soldiers in the
tank when I threw the grenade, and
once it exploded, it was quiet. When
the battle was over, we had killed
roughly 180 Germans and taken over
200 prisoners. We accomplished that
without losing a single man. When I
returned to meet with the company
commander and executive officers, they
were euphoric. They said, “Maggie,

this is unbelievable what’s happened
here. You won’t believe, but we’re
putting you in for the Medal of Honor.”
Well, at that time, I didn’t know what
the Medal of Honor was and it didn’t
mean a whole lot to me then. Six or
eight months later I did get a medal,
but it was a Silver Star. Despite the
fact that there have been countless eye
witness reports to support my actions
that day, there was no mention in the
write-up of the award that I had taken
out the tank, killed the crew, and
protected my men in that battle. But
to be truthful, I didn’t think much of
it until years later at a reunion. Col.
Sims, who was one of the officers that
sent in the recommendation for the
Medal of Honor on my behalf, asked
me about it. I told him that I didn’t
get the medal, I got a Silver Star. He
couldn’t believe it. He told me to send
him a copy of what my award read,
and so I did. He responded by saying,
“Well, no wonder, what we told them,
and what we recommended you for,
isn’t even mentioned.” He wrote a letter
to President Clinton, and to this day,
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