FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Harold O. Messerschmidt ~ 25 November 2019

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[Kathy in Alaska]

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

Harold O. Messerschmidt

Info from here.

           

Harold O. Messerschmidt (1923 – September 17, 1944) 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.

Messerschmidt joined the Army from Chester, Pennsylvania in May 1943, and by September 17, 1944 was serving as a Sergeant in Company L, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. During a German attack on that day, near Radden, France, he led and encouraged his men until everyone in his unit had been killed or wounded. Ignoring his own wounds, he continued to fight the enemy force alone in hand to hand combat until he was killed. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor ten months later, on July 17, 1946.

Messerschmidt, aged 20 or 21 at his death, was buried in Christ Lutheran Church Cemetery, Barnesville, Pennsylvania.

 

Sergeant Messerschmidt's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. Braving machinegun, machine pistol, and rifle fire, he moved fearlessly and calmly from man to man along his 40-yard squad front, encouraging each to hold against the overwhelming assault of a fanatical foe surging up the hillside. Knocked to the ground by a burst from an enemy automatic weapon, he immediately jumped to his feet, and ignoring his grave wounds, fired his submachine gun at the enemy that was now upon them, killing 5 and wounding many others before his ammunition was spent. Virtually surrounded by a frenzied foe and all of his squad now casualties, he elected to fight alone, using his empty submachine gun as a bludgeon against his assailants. Spotting 1 of the enemy about to kill a wounded comrade, he felled the German with a blow of his weapon. Seeing friendly reinforcements running up the hill, he continued furiously to wield his empty gun against the foe in a new attack, and it was thus that he made the supreme sacrifice. Sgt. Messerschmidt's sustained heroism in hand-to-hand combat with superior enemy forces was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.

 

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! 

 

[luvie]

Several people mentioned them and he looked them up on Amazon, so who knows. Thing is, he’s visiting his parents and who knows when the thing would arrive. I guess he could find one locally, but who wants to shop when you’re sick. He’s staying with his mom, so I’m sure she’ll take care of him. If he’ll let her. LOL!

It’s supposed to be really windy here Tuesday...probably a cold front blowing in. Then rain on Wed. Hope the rain shows up.

I’d better head out. I have a headache behind my right eye and I have to get up earlier in the morning to get bloodwork done for my annual doc. appt coming up. I refuse to get up too early. I just won’t eat before going in for the tests. If that doesn’t count, then too bad. I HATE going to a doctor when I’m not sick. Or at all.

See ya tomorrow. Hope the nice weather continues there for a while.

[radu]

Howdy, E.G.C. ((HUGZ))

Did you have a good time at the lake yesterday? Did Gizmo spot anything interesting to chase? :-)

[E.G.C.]

Well, no he didn't this time although we did walk through some tall grass and I had to spend some time removing some tiny little tumbleweeds from my jumpsuit pants((LOL))

The weather was nice yesterday. I think we have one more nice day but then it's supposed to get windy and we have rain coming later this week.

[radu]

You can get those vaporizers pretty much anywhere. I got mine at Wal Mart. Maybe his mom will grab one for him.

The rain is supposed to start moving in here sometime Tues. night. I reckon we’ll have wind before it gets here. I’m glad it wasn’t windy tonight so I could get the trash burned. Happy camper now!

Oh boy, blood draw. Yep, if you don’t eat before going, you should be good. You just have to have gone without food for at least 8 hours. I know what you mean about going to doctor when you aren’t sick. I feel the same way. I only go once a year for the wellness check because I’m fortunate to have a good immune system and rarely ever get sick.
I hope the results show you’re in great shape.

[luvie]

I just sent him a direct message on Twitter to tell him I had a recommendation for them. Didn’t give him your name. LOL! See ya!

[radu]

Cool! Maybe he’ll get one and get some relief for that stuffy head. He sounded like he felt mighty crummy.
Now get some sleep so you don’t oversleep in the morning. :-)

[mylife]

Well. there is the answer :) duh!

[MoochPooch]

Evening, Kathy! (Or rather, good morning.) I’m finally getting to bed.

Thanks for another inspiring bio.

[real saxophonist]

Punch line of a joke:

The Fokkers were flyimg Messerschmidts!

[real saxophonist]

Yes, I know, it was actually spelled ‘Messerschmitt’.

[DMZFrank]

My favorite historical topic is the Second World War. The permutations and probabilities of this horrific and titanic, never before or since eclipsed struggle beggar belief, and are both endlessly fascinating and horrifying.

Hitler’s had a near schizophrenic image of America: America and Amerika. Hitler would maniacally denounce the United States as feeble, decadent nation while simultaneously referring to it as an industrial colossus worthy of imitation. Or he would belittle America in the vilest terms while at the same time looking at the latest photos from the United States, watching American films, and amusing himself with Mickey Mouse cartoons.

America was a place that Hitler admired—for the can-do spirit of the American people, which he attributed to their Nordic blood—and envied—for its enormous territorial size, abundant resources, and political power. He saw that the largest single ethnic group in the US was people of Germanic descent, and in his Aryan addled Darwinistic viewpoint, that very Germanic blood was comprised of the very best ethnic stock, German “pioneers” who were adventurous and daring enough to leave their country and forge a new destiny in a foreign nation that did not have a Bismarckian welfare state. I think that he saw this reality as an added threat from the US for his visions of world hegemony, even as he sought ways to harness this genetic/ethnic Volksdeutche resource toward German victory.

Given the proliferation of German descended command leadership (Nimitz, Eisenhower, King, Spaatz, Eaker, Arnold, Eichelburger, and the lists of awardees of the Medal of Honor of German descent), his fears were largely realized. .

Hitler thought that “Amerika,” was a mongrel nation, grown too rich too soon and governed by a capitalist elite with strong ties to the Jews, and infected with a mongrelized culture.

One more thing, the western allies only had to face about 20% of the German Army in the West. I shudder to think what the casualty lists would have looked like if the US had to face just 50% of it. My father fought on the Gothic Line in Italy. Consider the slaughter of US troops at Kasserine, Salerno, the Rapido River, Anzio and Cisterna, the Gustav line, Omaha Beach, the Normandy hedgerows, the Huertgen Forest, the massacre of heavy bomber crews in the fight for air supremacy over the Reich, and the 1944 Ardennes offensive.

I do not think that I would be alive were it not for the Eastern front, where almost 80% of the German Army was engaged with the Soviets, unable to harm my Dad..

[beachn4fun]

TO THE

FR CANTEEN

Good morning, Everyone.

Good morning to our

AWESOME

Military, our Allies, and their families.

Thank you, Ma, for preparing the Canteen
for today's activities.

R I P Harold O. Messerschmidt
(1923 – September 17, 1944)

You know, it's not often we pause to consider
how young these guys were when they died.
I think about it when we remember Pearl Harbor.

Well, the Redskins finally won a game.
And poor Dallas Cowboys had to plan in the freezing rain.

And it looks like many of us will have
more rain during the holiday week.
Just hope it's not during Thanksgiving day;
we have to travel along the dreaded 95 in Virginia this year.

We're waiting for it to warm up a bit
before heading out for our 4-mile walk.
It's a nice walk, just wish the pounds would drop off a tad faster.

So, come on in and sit for a while.
There's always plenty of coffee, tea;
pancakes, conversation, silliness,
and plain old BS

REMEMBER THEM

DEFENDERS OF FREEDOM

[beachn4fun]

#50

[left that other site]

Good Morning, Beachie! :-)

[luvie]

Well, did ya have a good weekend?
It was beautiful here.
Supposed to cool down this week.
Right now it's kind of cloudy.
Not sure what that means.
Probably not rain.
Y'all have a Mahv'lus Monday!
...and a Wonderful Week!
(((hugs)))