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After going 25 yards, Private First Class Kessler was fired upon by two snipers only 100 yards away. Several of his prisoners took advantage of this opportunity and attempted to escape; however, ... Kessler hit the ground, fired on either flank of his prisoners, forcing them to cover, and then engaged the two snipers in a fire fight, and captured them. MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION continued from A8 “Oh yes, I do.” Kessler’s medal citation makes his heroism clear. As part of the force securing the Anzio beachhead in Central It aly, Kessler snaked his way to within 50 yards of an enemy machine gun nest in action near Ponte Rotto. Once he was dis covered, “he plunged headlong into the furious chain of auto matic fire,” his citation said. “Reaching a spot within six feet of the emplacement he stood over it and killed both the gun ner and his assistant, jumped into the gun position, overpow ered and captured a third Ger man after a short struggle.” Kessler then crawled 75 yards through a minefield while two machine guns “concentrat ed their fire directly on him and shells exploded within ten yards, bowling him over.” The private first class crawled to within 50 yards of the enemy and “engaged the machine guns in a duel,” the citation said. “When an artillery shell burst within a few feet of him, he left the cover of a ditch and advanced upon the (German) position in a slow walk,” firing from the hip. In the teeth of heavy ma chine gun fire, Kessler reached the edge of the enemy position, killed the gunners and captured 13 Germans, the citation says. “Then, despite continuous shelling, he started to the rear,’ the document said. “After going 25 yards, Private First Class Kes sler was fired upon by two snip ers only 100 yards away. Sever al of his prisoners took advan tage of this opportunity and at tempted to escape; however, Kessler hit the ground, fired on either flank of his prisoners, forcing them to cover, and then engaged the two snipers in a fire fight, and captured them.” The removal of that last threat allowed Kessler’s compa ny to advance, capturing its ob jective without further opposi tion. Although not seriously in jured, he was killed in later ac tion. “I just couldn’t believe it,” Karada said of her brother's heroism. In a 1988 interview with the Middletown Journal, Karada re membered that her brother was known for sticking up for un derdogs. And he had an “Irish tem per,” she said in an interview this week. In 1988, she recalled an Army chaplain who told her family that “Patrick got so mad (because of) all the guys getting killed. We think this got up his ‘fighting Irish.’” In 1967, the state renamed its armory the Patrick L. Kes sler Ohio Army National Guard Armory in Middletown. It was the first time the Ohio Guard Armory named a facility after an Army serviceman, previous ones were named for National Guardsmen. While the story of Kessler’s actions isn’t necessarily aired every weekend, it is known, said Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Mann, a Guard historian. Older sol diers make sure new privates know of it, he said. “I absolutely think that sto ry is told and is passed down,” Mann said. David Shortt, a U.S. Army vet eran and curator of German town’s Veterans Memorial Mu seum, said he has gathered sig natures for a petition to Mid dletown city government to re name a street or a park in that city for Kessler. He hasn’t ap proached the city yet, but he has almost 500 veterans’ signa tures so far, he said last week. “The World War II veterans talk about Patrick all the time and about how he has been for gotten,” Shortt said. Nan aceived the nation's highest military award SOURCE: OHIO H. In 2007, Fort Stewart, Ga., re named its elementary school af ter Kessler, who was a member of the Army base’s 3rd Infantry Division. Shortt called Kessler’s ac tions “incredible” and said he was a “typical solider from that generation.” “What can I say?” Shortt said, “You feel humbled.” He said he may give Middle town city leaders the petition in the next month. Tony Stein: Sparring the bigger guy Vernon “Moon” Miller, a Hu ber Heights resident, support ed the landing of Allied forces on D-Day and saw his share of the war. He also knew Cpl. Tony Stein, a Dayton native who re ceived the Medal of Honor for bravery on the volcanic sands of Iwo Jima, more than half a world from Normandy. Miller, 88, remembered Stein from the time he was 11 or 12 growing up in old North Day ton. Stein was some six years older than Miller. Their families lived near each other on Troy Street. Miller called Stein a “loner,” but not one who shunned peo ple. In fact, if you were outnum bered in a fight, Stein was the kind of guy who would stand up for you, he said. “If one guy fought (you), it was all right,” Miller recalled “If two or three guys jumped you, he'd be right there with you fighting with you. He didn’t believe in having two or three guys fighting against you.” Across the decades, Mill er has gathered documents on Stein, many of them also col lected by the American Legion Tony Stein Post 619, which was chartered in 1946. Tucked among the papers including an Our Lady of the Rosary parish certificate of bap tism, a marriage license to Joan Strominger and much else be sides — is a written recollec tion from Russ Eschenberg, a boyhood friend of Stein's who wrote that Stein brought his “fearless and aggressive na ture” to the boxing ring to be come a 128-pound Golden Gloves champion. “It would often see Tony spar ring with some bigger guy, and aggressively defending him self very well,” Eschenberg re called. Stein worked as a tool and die maker as a civilian at Gen eral Motor’s Delco Products di vision, until the U.S. govern ment declassified his job from “exempt” status, allowing Stein to join the military. He enlist ed in the Marine Corps Reserve, serving with the 5th Marine Di vision. Three days before de ploying to Iwo Jima, Stein mar ried Joan Strominger on July 21, 1942, in San Diego, before she returned to Dayton to live with her parents on West Siebentha ler Avenue. Stein’s courage in the boxing ring served him well on the bat tlefield. Among Miller’s stash of documents on Stein, an April 27, 1945, Western Union tele gram from Gen. Alexander A. Vandergrift, the Marine com mandant in World War I, to Stein’s mother, Teresa Parks, notifying that her son was killed March 1, 1945, on Iwo Jima. Despite injuries, Stein vol unteered to help clear a ridge of Japanese snipers that day, so that his unit could take an air strip. Medals continued on Air OHIO’S WWII MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS During World War II, 32 Ohioans were awarded a Medal of Honor. For a complete list of every Ohioan who ié since the Civil War and a description of their heroism, visit Journal-News.com/military. Branch Birthplace Place of Action Date Killed St. Clairsville Sgt. Sylvester Antolak Army Near Cisterna di Littoria, Italy May 24,1944 Lt. Col. Addison E. Baker Army Air Corps Chicago Ploesti Raid, Rumania Aug.1,1943 Cpl. Edward A. Bennett Army Middleport Heckhuscheid, Germany February 1,1945 Cpl.Charles Joseph Berry Marine Corps Lorain two Jima March 3, 1945 Pvt. Herbert F. Christian Army Eyesville Near Valmontone, Italy June 23, 1944 Pfc. Joseph J. Cicchetti Army Waynesburg South Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands Feb. 9,1945 2nd Lt. Robert Craig Army Scotland* Near Favoratta, Sicily July 11,1943 Feb.12,1945 Sgt. Emile Deleau Jr. Army Lansing Oberhoffen, France Pfc. Harold Glenn Epperson Marine Corps Reserve Akron Saipan, the Marianas June 25,1944 Tech. Sgt. Forrest Eugene Everhart Sr. Army Bainbridge Near Kerling, France Nov. 12,1944 Pfc. William Adelbert Foster Marine Corps Reserve Cleveland Okinawa Shima, Ryukyu Chain May 2,1945 Ist Lt. John Robert Fox Army Cincinnati Sommacolonia, Italy Dec. 26,1944 Lt. j.g. Donald Arthur Gary Navy Findlay Japanese Home Islands near Kobe, Japan March 19,1945 Tech. 5th Grade Lewis Hall Army Bloom Mount Austen, Guadalcanal, Solomon Jan.10,1943 Islands Pfc. Joe R. Hastings Army Malvern Drabenderhohe, Germany April 12,1945 Pfc. Arthur J. Jackson Marine Corps Cleveland Island of Peleliu in the Palau group Sept. 18,1944 Greenville, Pa.** Near Bennwihk, France Dec. 23-24, Staff Sgt. Gus Kefort Army 1944 Pfc. Patrick L. Kessler Army Middletown Near Ponte Rotto, Italy May 25,1944 Cleveland Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Dec. 7,1941 Rear Adm.Isaac Campbell Kidd Navy 1st Lt. Harry Linn Martin Marine Corps Reserve Bucyrus Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands March 26,1945 Pfc. Leonard Foster Mason | Marine Corps Middleborough, Ky.** Asan-Adelup Beachhead, Guam, July 22,1944 Marianas Islands Cpl. Melvin Mayfield Army Salem, W.Va.** Cordillera Mountains, Luzon, Philippine July 29,1945 Islands Lima Nov. 9,1944 2nd Lt. William E. Metzger Jr. Army Air Corps Saarbrucken, Germany Pfc. Frank J. Petrarca Army Cleveland Horseshoe Hill, New Georgia, Solomon July 27,1943 Islands 1st Lt. James E. Robinson Jr. Toledo April 6,1945 Army Near Untergriesheim, Germany 1st class Robert R. Scott Navy Massillon Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Dec. 7,1941 Cpl. Tony Stein Marine Corps Reserve Dayton Jima, Volcano Islands March 1,1945 Sgt. Herbert Joseph Thomas Marine Corps Reserve Columbus Koromokina River, Bougainville Islands, Nov. 7,1943 Solomon Islands Pvt. John R. Towle Army Cleveland Near Oosterhout, Holland Sept. 21,1944 Seaman James Richard Ward Navy Springfield Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Dec. 7,1941 Staff Sgt. Howard E. Woodford Army Barberton Near Tabio, Luzon, Philippine Islands June 6,1945 Pvt. Rodger W. Young Army Tiffin On New Georgia, Solomon Islands July 31,1943 Patrick L. Kessler, 22, of Middle town, was killed in action on May 25, 1944, near Ponte Rotto, Italy. On Jan. 4, 1945, he was posthu mously awarded the Medal of Honor. Gladys Karaca of Huber Heights, the sole surviving sister of Patrick L. Kessler, holds the flag that once draped her brother's casket. “I just couldn't believe it,” she said of her brother's heroism. Ji WITMER / STAFI
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Middletown Journal News
Middletown, Ohio, US
Sun, Jun 01, 2014
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