| OCR Text |
Show 4A Lakeside Review North, Wednesday, July 1 3, 1 983 Medal of Honor Georaflos -- 3" ,:$x. , AJj, tUtfafa's Only Living Kecopientf ly SHIUIY W Ur l'k Except for its ROY meticulously landscaped yard ;and 25 foot high flagpole, the thrown and yellow split-lev;house in Roy resembles of other suburban ; thousands ; el homes. George E. Wahlen, the ; .houses owner, is a slight, soft B spoken man who works as a :; staff appraiser for the Administration in Salt Vete-llXra- XLake City. He is also Utahs sole living I : Medal of Honor recipient. An i h xaward he won for conspicuous I :: gallantry and intrepidity at the f 'Xrist of his life during World - .War II. f, 1; Awarded to only 3,414 people ; in the nations history, the Med-al of Honor is the United States highest award for valor in combat. A small sign on the front yard ; - flagpole given to Wahlen by his family is the only visible evi-- a J dence inside or outside the to indicate Wahlens for-- f contributions to the Xmidabje cause of freedom. About four X years ago, the kids gave him a ? commemorative plaque to put ,X; beside the flagpole, but he i hasnt found a stone to put it on t ; X house laughed his wife, f'jXyet, She admits to Melba. v'.' frustration over his occasional modesty. I 1 vXkeep asking him to at least ; write down what happened dur- -' ; ing the war so our kids will have a record of what he did. ' ' Wahlen is so quiet about his award that Melba did not know received the honor until a j . girlfriend told her she was dat ; ing a war hero. Married in 1946, t f ; Wahlen credits Melba with his nightmares about the .war. I used to have terrible . ; when I was ' ; dreams, especially recovering in the hospital. After got married, I never had end-Xin- g ;I ; another one. Compared to the real and im-- 1 of Wahlens ; wartime experience, his boy- hood years in Ogden were un- danger. eventful. The oldest of three I had to make a lot of deciboys, Wahlen was born in 1924. sions during the time on Iwo. Although his father worked in One thing I remember is that - the city, Wahlens family lived nobody said our job was to take pn a small farm. From the age care of the men only if it was ; of 12, George was responsible safe. Each of us had to decide on ; for daily chores on the farm. His own if we wanted to take the our , Sense of self reliance was furth- risk. I cant remember ever deered by his favorite sport ciding not to help someone who boxing. was injured. A neighbor who had been a Wahlen recalls crawling up professional fighter gave . Wahlen extra coaching and he developed into a first rate high school boxer. ; I really liked boxing, said Wahlen. It was sort of a status thing and gave me the feeling I could take care of myself, but Dad didnt like the sport ; my because he thought Id get . m agined nightmares t r example inspired others to persevere and eventually ! cap- ture the strategically significant island. ; He called for firepower from nearby Marines and was able to reach and treat his injured com- rade. Several days later when his platoon was ordered to take another hill, they drew heavy machine gun fire. Two men on Wahlens right flank were killed instantly. As he lay on his stomach, Wahlen heard a thump. I looked over and saw a Japanese grenade a foot or two from my head. While he was trying to crawl away, it exploded. At first I thought half my head had been blown off. Suffering from facial wounds, : Wahlen wrapped dressings around his head to stop the bleeding. In the distance, he could hear a soldier calling for a Corpsman. I looked toward the man and realized there were four or five Japanese grenades lying around him. Instead of retreating, Wahlen crawled closer and noticed a Japanese emplacement nearby. I worked my way up to the , about was getting him out of there. . Despite- suffering a head wound and losing a hunk of meat out of his shoulder, Wahlen refused to be evacuated . until a serious leg injury finally immobilized him. His last heroic act was to crawl to the aid of a comrade. . . f 4 Ay L ) &25 - - folio of recently issued commemorative stamps honoring U.S. Medal of Honor recipients to Roy resident George E. Before leaving Iwo Jima, would have a unique opportuniWahlen saw the impossible ty to tour the White House. task achieved. It was drizzlPresident Harry Truman ing rain when we got the news wanted to see him so he could on our radio that our flag had present Wahlen and 13 other been raised on Mount Suribachi. military men with the Medal of We could see it from a distance Honor. I was impressed, said Wahlen in his typically underthrough the clouds. A picture of the flag raising stated manner. became the subject of a Pulitzer After ceremonies and a prize winning photograph and parade, Wahlen returned to was transformed into the fam- civilian life. He graduated from ous memorial statue of five men Weber State College and began working for the railway mail struggling to erect the American flag in the rocky soil of Iwo service. ton D.C. on October 3, 1945, two days before he was officially I checked into the expected. YMCA and did some sightseeing. Meanwhile, Navy brass were frantically trying to contact their missing hero. When he walked into Naval Headquarters, the' startled corpsman was told he ... V Wahlen. The stamp's design features the and Air Force Medals of Army, Navy Honor, ROY POSTMASTER Reed Hill presents port- - edge and picked up some grenade fragments in my legs on the way. When Wahlen Jima. reached the emplacement, he While spending a nine month saw a hole 10 feet across and 12 feet deep. At the bottom of the recovery period in a California hole was an enemy soldier Naval hospital, Wahlen rethrowing grenades out one after ceived a telegram from U.S. Naval Headquarters summonanother. Unarmed except for grenades ing him to Washington. Already thrown to him by Marines, the recipient of two Navy crosses for bravery, Wahlen figured Wahlen reached for one and discovered the pin was bent. After they wanted him to participate straightening it, he pulled the in a patriotic program. There, pin and counted to three. Then was a lot of patriotic activity he threw it into the hole and going on in the capital then, he crawled back to the injured explained. Marine. All I was concerned Wahlen arrived in Washing- JULY20-2- 3 - I wounded Marine at the bottom of the slope. He was a target of continuous fire. While looking at the man, Wahlen made a decision he would repeat so often that his f v v ; killed or wounded. As they left Hawaii for Iwo Jima, the mood on ship was one of anticipation despite realistic briefings by Marine personnel. Even though we knew it was bad, most of us were anxious to go because wed been training so long, said Wahlen. Nothing, however, prepared the men for their first sight of the island. From a distance, it resembled a large, dark rock. A closer view revealed a barren beach covered with knee deep volcanic ash and bodies of dead Marines. Heavily fortified by the Japanese, the island seemed impossible to penetrate. One major problem was Mount Suribachi. It overlooked the Marines landing area and was covered with enemy emplacements. The Japanese pretty much had us zeroed in. When they threw barrages, there was no chance to look for remembers Wahlen. cover, We knew we were in a big mess. For several days, Wahlens platoon was held in reserve. They picked up sniper fire, but did not have many casualties. It was a pretty silent time. We were all concerned. On the third day, Wahlens company made a big push over open terrain. A platoon sergeant was hit and lost an arm, leg and eye. I was the first one on the scene, said Wahlen. For a farm boy who once fainted at the sight of blood, it was a crucial test of courage. The platoon leader lived and Wahlen eventually treated over 60 Marines, many of whom owe him their lives. Bandaging mangled bodies was only a minor test of Wahlens fortitude compared to a medics most critical challenge: whether to treat an injured comrade despite personal W1 over a hilltop and seeing a three returned uninjured from the island. The rest were either KANCIT1S Review Cerreependent i&i-- Still a military man at heart, Wahlen missed the closeness of the military community. In 1948, he enlisted in the Army where he spent 20 years of duty in the medical service. Wahlen retired as a major in 1969. During his 20-ye- ar stint, Wahlen returned to a combat zone in Asia. He served as a personnel officer in Vietnam and occasionally went on visits to the field. It didnt bother me to be there, said Wahlen who feels Vietnam veterans have not received adequate recognition from many Americans. As a civilian, Wahlens major tie with his heroic past is membership in the Medal of Honor Society which meets every two years. He has also attended several presidential inaugurations' along with other recipients. - For many years following the war, Wahlen limited his battle recollections to officially requested military appearances. Even now, Wahlen often declines invitations to appear oh television or at other formal events.- )i Instead he chooses to answer requests by young people for autographs; and reminiscences. He also Attended a recent ceremony at the Roy Post Office where Postmaster Reed Hill presented him with a newly issued commemorative stamp honoring Medal of Honor recipients. Wahlen adpiits to infrequent reflections oh why he risked his life so many times during battle. A lot of it was loyalty to my comrades and, caring about doing my job. During combat you dont have time to think about patriotism. You just do what youre trained to do. Long ago, Wahlen decided to focus on life as it is now. I wanted to get on with life. I wasnt going to make the past my reason for living. This attitude and his strong religious faith have helped him avoid problems such as the and high divorce rates experienced by some medal re-- . cipients. He is also a self incurable optimist. After surviving Iwo, I knew nothing could happen that I couldnt handle. IN THE OGDEN STADIUM hurt. M ! ( : X f Strongwilled by nature, ; ; over-protecti- X-- t ; ( : ! ; f t ; 4 Wahlen quickly learned how to circumvent his father. Rather than ask Dad if I could do something, I went ahead and did it. If he got mad, I just said that he never told me not to. Wahlens well used strategy was unsuccessful when he first tried to enter military service. I was under age and wanted to join the Army. Dad wouldnt sign the required papers. In-- ; stead Wahlen became an air-- ; craft mechanic at Hill Field. Inspired by the patriotism of returning veterans, he decided to volunteer for the draft. I , ; : ; wanted to be an aircraft I ; ; mechanic. Instead they put me into training for the medical corps. After four : . . ; ; took over. I thought, Sister, youre not sending me any- He promptly volun-- i where. teered for the Fleet Marine Force, a duty viewed as suicidal medical lx for enemy 668 17 th Street 6:30 p.m. Warm-U- Events p 7:30 p.m. Main Show THIS IS REAL RODEO IN THE WESTS MOST SPECTACULAR OUTDOOR SETTING GREAT FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT distasteful months working at Balboa Nav-- ; al Hospital in California, a military nurse threatened to have him shipped to the Pacific if he did not follow her orders. more efficiently. Wahlens stubborn streak . Ogden Pioneer Days corpsmen. The had a reputation for shooting corpsmen first because it hurt U.S. morale. Wahlen officially became a member of the Fifth Marine Division of the Fleet Marine Force in January 1944. I really enjoyed the camaraderie. We were close and the Marines were very supportive of medics because they knew it was our job to take care of them. In July 1944, Wahlens division boarded ship for Guam. Instead they stopped in Hawaii where the men trained for six more months. Then Wahlens company was notified they were being deployed to Iwo Jima, an eight square mile island in the Pacific that was held by the Japanese. FAMILY DISCOUNT NIGHTS July 20 & 21 $12.for a family of 6 (reg. $18) Call 399 8295 for ticket information -- -' Duty on Iwo was like shaking hands with death. Out of the 240 men in Wahlens company, only i f V I I RAMPAGE BONUS Present rodeo ticket stub from any night and $1 and ride the Rampage Slide at Lorin Farr :n ; I V Park all day! I ii. i t i |
