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tsIBronze Star Awarded Posthumously To Major Philbeck Who Took Part In Nazi Defeat at Battle of BulgeThe Bronze Star has lccna w a rd ed pt st h u m lt;u* I y to M a j. Tommie M, Philbeck, son of Mrs,J W. Philbeck of 12 North Eaststreet, for heroic action in the battle of the bulge.He led a task force of infantry,tanks, ra m issance men and engineers on December 18 with the mission u relieve the pressure' on surrounded troops of theNinth Armored Divisions Combat Command A.A task force that had moved in ahead of his met the enemy well dug in and was delayed. The commander was killed. Major Philbeck dismounted from his command tank and went forward to r econ n o i te r a n d re lt;i r g a n i z e the first force, in the face of artillery, mortar and small arms fire.The citation accompanying the award states that against a well-entrenched force Major Philbeck persisted with his attack and onthree different occasions he dismounted and went forward to the engineer commander to coordinate the fire of supporting tanks andto issue orders for the movement forward of succeeding waves. Because the attached dismounted men consisted of two platoons of engineers no other means of communication was available. * The presence of Major Philbeck in the forward area, his total disregard! for the crwrny fire and his heroic•rdetermination welded his command together and spurred them on to superhuman feats against avastly superior force.“It is now evident that this determined action served not onlyto thwart the enemy from achieving any of his objectives, but also caused him to use great caution in subsequent moves. Their inability to penetrate prevented them from learning how thinly our lines were held, and the success of the Combat Command in holding the shoulder of the German salient is due in no small measure to Major Phil beck’s heroic action. Major Philbeck was killed in action in subsequent operations.”Major Philbeck’s wife lives in Pawnee, Okla.
Newspaper Details
Northwest Arkansas Times
Fayetteville, Arkansas, US
Fri, Apr 13, 1945
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 19 Apr 2020
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