[YakuzaShoeii]

Box #4:

WWII -

-Donald Eugene Rudolph, Sr. (c. 1921 - May 25, 2006) Was an American soldier who received his country's highest military honor, the Medal of Honor, in World War II. He was awarded the medal while serving as a technical sergeant and acting as leader of his platoon on Luzon island in the northern Philippines; his actions took place on February 5, 1945. Whilst giving first aid on the battlefield he noticed that his unit was pinned down by gun fire from a ditch. Crawling to the ditch, using his rifle and grenades to protect himself, he then killed three enemy soldiers concealed there. He then continued to work his way across open ground to a line of pillboxes that were also firing and immobilizing his company. He threw a grenade into the slit in the first of the pillboxes, and charged it and threw another grenade into the structure, killing the enemy machine-gunners and so silencing their fire. After ordering several riflemen to cover his advance he proceeded to attack and neutralize 7 further pillboxes in quick succession. Later, when a tank attacked his platoon he advanced under covering fire, opened its hatch and dropped a white phosphorus grenade inside, killing the crew and negating its threat. His medal citation concludes that through "his outstanding heroism, superb courage, and leadership, and complete disregard for his own safety, Rudolph cleared a path for an advance which culminated in one of the most decisive victories of the Philippine campaign."
He was promoted to Second Lieutenant after the battle, and was presented with the medal on August 23, 1945 by President Harry S. Truman.

-George N. Kirk - WWII Hellcat Ace with 7 victories in VF-8. Philippines, 1944.

-Isaac Campbell Kidd, Jr. (August 14, 1919 – June 27, 1999) - Was an American Admiral in the United States Navy who served as the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO's Atlantic Fleet, and also as commander in chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet from 1975 to 1978. He was the son of Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who was killed on the bridge of the battleship Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II he served as a gunnery and operations officer on destroyers in both Europe and the Pacific, and participated in various Allied landings in the Mediterranean as well as at Iwo Jima.

His 23 years at sea during his 40-year naval career included 15 years in command of destroyers, destroyer divisions and squadrons and three U.S. fleets in the Atlantic, Pacific and Mediterranean; he also served as executive assistant and senior aide to the Chief of Naval Operations in the early 1960s, earning citations for his efforts in the Cuban Missile Crisis and several other crises. In 1967, he headed the court of inquiry into the USS Liberty incident during the Six-Day War in June of that year. From 1975 to 1978, Kidd served as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

-John William Finn (July 23, 1909 – May 27, 2010) - Was a sailor in the United States Navy who, as a chief petty officer, received the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II. As a chief aviation ordinance-man stationed at Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, he earned the medal by manning a machine gun from an exposed position throughout the attack, despite being repeatedly wounded. He continued to serve in the Navy and in 1942 was commissioned an ensign. In 1947 he was reverted back to chief petty officer, eventually rising to the commissioned officer rank of lieutenant, until his 1956 retirement. In his later years he made many appearances at events celebrating veterans. At the time of his death, Finn was the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient and the last living recipient from the attack on Pearl Harbor. For these actions, Finn was formally presented with the Medal of Honor on September 14, 1942, by Admiral Chester Nimitz for courage and valor beyond the call of duty.

-John Kirk Singlaub (born July 10, 1921) - Is a highly-decorated former OSS officer and a retired Major General in the United States Army. Kirk is also a founding member of the CIA. He was a joint founder, with Congressman Larry McDonald, of the Western Goals Foundation, a conservative private intelligence dissemination network. Singlaub is a contributing author to several books and the author of his autobiography as well as numerous articles.
As a member of the distinguished Operation Jedburgh (Singlaub was part of the three man team code name JAMES), Singlaub parachuted behind German lines in August 1944 to work with the French Resistance fighters or Maquis groups that had swelled the resistance ranks after the D-Day invasion during World War II. He headed CIA operations in postwar Manchuria during the Chinese Communist revolution, led troops in the Korean War, managed the secret war along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Vietnam, and worked with the Contras in Nicaragua.

-Jose Mendoza Lopez (July 10, 1910 – May 16, 2005) - Was a United States Army soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the Battle of the Bulge, in which he single-handily repulsed a German infantry attack, killing at least 100 enemy troops.
MoH citation reads, "On his own initiative, he carried his heavy machine gun from Company K's right flank to its left, in order to protect that flank which was in danger of being overrun by advancing enemy infantry supported by tanks. Occupying a shallow hole offering no protection above his waist, he cut down a group of 10 Germans. Ignoring enemy fire from an advancing tank, he held his position and cut down 25 more enemy infantry attempting to turn his flank. Glancing to his right, he saw a large number of infantry swarming in from the front. Although dazed and shaken from enemy artillery fire which had crashed into the ground only a few yards away, he realized that his position soon would be outflanked. Again, alone, he carried his machinegun to a position to the right rear of the sector; enemy tanks and infantry were forcing a withdrawal. Blown over backward by the concussion of enemy fire, he immediately reset his gun and continued his fire. Single-handed he held off the German horde until he was satisfied his company had effected its retirement. Again he loaded his gun on his back and in a hail of small arms fire he ran to a point where a few of his comrades were attempting to set up another defense against the onrushing enemy. He fired from this position until his ammunition was exhausted. Still carrying his gun, he fell back with his small group to Krinkelt. Sgt. Lopez's gallantry and intrepidity, on seemingly suicidal missions in which he killed at least 100 of the enemy, were almost solely responsible for allowing Company K to avoid being enveloped, to withdraw successfully and to give other forces coming up in support time to build a line which repelled the enemy drive.

-Leslie Smith - WWII Ace with 7 victories. Flew "Silver Lady" for 56th fighter group/8th Air Force.

-Ralph Goranson - Commanded "Force B" of The Ranger Assault Group, which was a provisional regiment of U.S. Army Rangers that was formed for the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, in World War II.


War on Terror -

-Bruce Robinson - Soldier??





I literally made it through 39 boxes and I hadn't pulled anything that really stuck out, besides the Charles Sumner. So, (as my luck would have it) the last box was...