FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Melvin E Biddle ~ 04 April 2016

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[Kathy in Alaska]

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

Melvin E. Biddle

Info from here and here.

           

Melvin Earl "Bud" Biddle (November 28, 1923 – December 16, 2010) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.

Biddle was born on November 28, 1923, in Daleville, Indiana, to Owen J. and Blanche Olive (Bowen) Biddle. He had two brothers, Ralph and Lee, and three sisters, Marie, Carolyn, and Eileen. A life-long resident of the area, Biddle attended elementary school in Daleville and graduated from Anderson High School in nearby Anderson, Indiana. He worked for Delco Remy in Anderson until being drafted into the U.S. Army.

By December 23, 1944, Biddle was serving in Europe as a private first class in Company B of the 1st Battalion, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

The orders from Melvin E. Biddle's Army commander came quickly. The officer pointed at then-Pfc. Biddle and barked, "You! Out front!"

It was late December 1944 and a ragtag company of American cooks and clerks were stranded in Hotton, Belgium, about four miles from Mr. Biddle's unit near Soy.

The Battle of the Bulge had just begun, and the troops in Hotton were surrounded and outnumbered by German forces. They needed to be rescued. Leading the stealthy advance through the snowy forests was Mr. Biddle, who took over when his unit's two lead scouts were injured in a land-mine blast.

A week later, he was wounded in the neck by shrapnel which just missed his jugular vein. After recovering in England for several weeks, he headed back to his unit and on the way learned through an article in Stars and Stripes that he would be awarded the Medal of Honor.

For his actions during the battle near Soy, Biddle was awarded the Medal of Honor at the White House on October 30, 1945, by President Harry Truman. When presenting the medal to Biddle, Truman whispered "People don't believe me when I tell them that I'd rather have one of these than be President."

Biddle was later promoted to corporal. In addition to the Medal of Honor, he also received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

On December 1, 1946, Biddle married his childhood sweetheart, Leona Elsie Allen. The couple had two daughters, Elissa and Marsha.

After leaving the military, Biddle returned to Indiana and worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs. He helped distribute loans and benefits to veterans for 26 years until his retirement. He also served on the Anderson City Council.

Biddle rarely spoke of his Medal of Honor action. He gave occasional interviews and appeared at events honoring veterans but preferred to lead a more private life. He was an avid golfer and a member of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post.

Biddle died of congestive heart failure on December 16, 2010, at Saint John's Medical Center in Anderson following a sudden illness.

Aged 87 at his death, he was buried in Anderson's Memorial Park Cemetery on December 20. In deference to his family's beliefs as Jehovah's Witnesses, Biddle requested that his funeral be free of military observances. His death date was the 66th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Bulge, in which he earned the Medal of Honor, and he was Indiana's last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from World War II.

Biddle's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy near Soy, Belgium, on 23 and 24 December 1944. Serving as lead scout during an attack to relieve the enemy-encircled town of Hotton, he aggressively penetrated a densely wooded area, advanced 400 yards until he came within range of intense enemy rifle fire, and within 20 yards of enemy positions killed 3 snipers with unerring marksmanship. Courageously continuing his advance an additional 200 yards, he discovered a hostile machine-gun position and dispatched its 2 occupants. He then located the approximate position of a well-concealed enemy machine-gun nest, and crawling forward threw hand grenades which killed two Germans and fatally wounded a third. After signaling his company to advance, he entered a determined line of enemy defense, coolly and deliberately shifted his position, and shot 3 more enemy soldiers. Undaunted by enemy fire, he crawled within 20 yards of a machine-gun nest, tossed his last hand grenade into the position, and after the explosion charged the emplacement firing his rifle. When night fell, he scouted enemy positions alone for several hours and returned with valuable information which enabled our attacking infantry and armor to knock out 2 enemy tanks. At daybreak he again led the advance and, when flanking elements were pinned down by enemy fire, without hesitation made his way toward a hostile machine-gun position and from a distance of 50 yards killed the crew and 2 supporting riflemen. The remainder of the enemy, finding themselves without automatic weapon support, fled panic stricken. Pfc. Biddle's intrepid courage and superb daring during his 20-hour action enabled his battalion to break the enemy grasp on Hotton with a minimum of casualties.

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission! 

 

[radu]

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

To all our military men and women, past and present,
THANK YOU
for your service!

[radu]

Hello Conor!
Have a good weekend?

[radu]

[radu]

Howdy, Kathy.
Get any more “to-do” items checked off your list today?

[PROCON]

Wassup with you tonight?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, mountainlion...is winter over for you yet?

Did your wood supply last the whole winter?

[radu]

LOL!!!

Not much is up tonight. Been watching those silly owls and now watching the Decorah eagles.
According to the Weather Underground button on the page, it’s warmer in IA than it is here! Hey!!!

[PROCON]

I ran a couple errands, visited with a neighbor and enjoyed our warm weather. Now just relaxing and playing a video game for fun.

[radu]

I visited Hubby’s aunt at the nursing home for a while this afternoon. It was a pretty day but still too cool to take her out to the courtyard to sit.
They’d predicted a hard freeze last night but that didn’t happen, fortunately. I still made the rounds to check on the flower beds, making sure everything was ok.

Now just sitting and being lazy. LOL

[mylife]

search on ‘the clarks’ train

My computer is on half speed or less

God Bless those men who went into the breach

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Sand...((HUGS))

Could you arrange one more weekend day, please?

[PROCON]

Nice job visiting the old folks in the family. How’s hubby doing?

[radu]

Certainly not a pleasant one but the facility she’s in is NICE. That makes it easier.

Hubby’s doin’ alright. He was in the garage most of the day with a couple of buddies, then got a bit of mowing done while I was gone. The place is looking shaggy but I love it ‘cause it’s GREEN.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, radu...did the wind die down? Nicer weather?

Clouds are rolling in now, but it was beautiful blue sky earlier. A bit chilly, but I was able to get my Mom outside to look at her pot garden space.

She’s hoping we can go look at/get plants next weekend. Might be a tad early, but I’ll watch the ads.

[SandRat]

I have not that good of influence with GOD.

[PROCON]

Hanging out with buddies?

You got to nag him to quit doing that! Try it! Heh-heh.

[radu]

We had a beautiful day here - - blue skies and NO wind. Just a little cool but not bad.

Glad to hear you had a nice enough day to get your mom outside for a bit. Just looked at the cams and see the clouds you mentioned. There’s still a little blue sky up there.

They still don’t have everything out at the stores around here. I’ve been looking for ideas for the pots on our deck. Seems like it would be a tad early for them to have bedding plants up there. Shouldn’t be much longer, though, that she’ll have flowers to check out.

[radu]

Ooooooh, I gave up on that loooong ago. LOL
But I don’t do anything to encourage them to stay around. Don’t feed ‘em or nothin’. :-)

But hey, it beats him hanging out with them at bars. And their wives all know right where they are. Here, with their heads and arms buried under the hoods of cars.

[luvie]

Thanks, galz, for another profile of a great American hero!

[radu]

Hey there, LUV.

Have a good day? Stop by DQ this evening? :-)