Item:
ON5225

Original U.S. WWII Combat Medic 102nd Infantry Division Grouping - Silver Star Recipient

Item Description

Original Items: One-one-of-a-kind. One of the most memorable groupings we have offered, be sure to read about this incredible hero. Marion M. Lewis ASN 38640080 was born on August 1, 1908 in Marion, Ohio. Drafted into the Army in 1942 in his city of birth he attended basic training in Austin, TX. He underwent medical training and was assigned to the Medical Detachment, 407th Infantry Regiment in the 102nd Infantry Division (Ozark) as a combat medic. During his time with the 102nd during the Rhineland and Central-European Campaigns. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and THE ROER RIVER CROSSING.

He was awarded two Bronze Star Medals, Purple Heart Medal, and the Silver Star Medal. For actions on the 23rd of February, 1945 citation his Silver Starreads he repeatedly crossed and recrossed the Roer River to evacuate those wounded by enemy artillery, mortar, and small arms fireTHE ROER CROSSING was the most vital and exacting operation of the entire war for the 102d Division. In the furious and confused actions many men emerged as heroes. Others fought in obscurity and anonymity but their efforts were not in vain.You can read all about it at this link and yes T/3 Marion Lewis and his Silver Star are mentioned.

T/3 Lewis also entered an unknown minefield to rescue numerous casualties. After hostilities ceased in the ETO, he was transferred to the 16th Armored Division for occupation duties. His family states that he was presented the French Croix de Guerre by General Charles DeGaulle on October 30th, 1945.

T/3 Lewis was married and had two sons. He lived in Cincinnati after the war and retired after many years in the funeral business. He passed away in 2005.

Included in this amazing grouping are the following items:

- Ike jacket size 38R in excellent condition with 102nd Infantry Division patch with incredible cross stitching on the left shoulder, such detail was paid to the stitching of the 16th Armored patch that the thread matches the red, blue, and yellow backing of the patch found on the right shoulder. Sterling Silver WWII Combat Medic Badge, Medical Corps lapel pins and Medal ribbons that include: Silver Star Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, WWII Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 2 Campaign Stars. Two overseas service bars on the left sleeve indicating 1+ year in overseas service. The inside of the jacket is clearly ink stamped L-0080 (which stands for Lewis, Army Serial Number 38640080). Each sleeve bear t/3 chevrons and there is a French Fourragère shoulder cord for service with French combat units.

- Original Officer Overseas Garrison Cap with Medical Corps Piping.

 

 

 History of the 102nd Infantry Division.

The 102nd Infantry Division, under the command of Major General Frank A. Keating, arrived on the Western Front in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) at Cherbourg, France, 23 September 1944, and, after a short period of training near Valognes, moved to the German-Netherlands border. On 26 October, elements attached to other divisions entered combat and on 3 November the division assumed responsibility for the sector from the Wurm to Waurichen. A realignment of sectors and the return of elements placed the 102nd in full control of its units for the first time, 24 November 1944, as it prepared for an attack to the Roer. The attack jumped off, 29 November, and carried the division to the river through Welz, Flossdorf, and Linnich.

After a period of aggressive patrolling along the Roer, 4–19 December, the division took over the XIII Corps sector from the Wurm River, north of the village of Wurm, to Barmen on the south, and trained for river crossing. On 23 February 1945, the 102d attacked across the Roer (Operation Grenade), advanced toward Lövenich and Erkelenz, bypassed Mönchengladbach, took Krefeld, 3 March, and reached the Rhine. During March the division was on the defensive along the Rhine, its sector extending from Homburg south to Düsseldorf. Crossing the river on 9 April on pontoon bridge, the division attacked in the Wesergebirge, meeting stiff opposition. After 3 days and nights of terrific enemy resistance Wilsede and Hessisch-Oldendorf fell, 12 April 1945, and the 102d pushed on to the Elbe, meeting little resistance. Breitenfeld fell, 15 April, and the division outposted the Elbe River, 48 miles from Berlin, its advance halted on orders. Storkau experienced fighting on the 16th, EHRA on the 21st along with Fallersleben. On 3 May 1945 the 102nd shook hands with the Russian 156th Division just outside Berlin.

The barn set on fire in the Gardelegen Massacre.

On 15 April the division discovered a war crime in Gardelegen. About 1,200 prisoners from the Mittelbau-Dora and Hannover-Stöcken prison camps were forced from a train into an empty barn measuring approximately a hundred by fifty feet on the outskirts of the town. The barn was then burned down, killing those inside. About 1,016 people were killed. However, two men survived, buried under a shield of dead bodies, protecting them from the gunfire and flames. When the first soldiers arrived at the barn, the two came crawling out from under the dead and burning bodies. Major General Keating ordered that the nearby civilian population be forced to view the site and to disinter and rebury the victims in a new cemetery. After digging the graves and burying the bodies, they erected a cross or a Star of David over each grave and enclosed the site with a white fence.

The division patrolled and maintained defensive positions until the end of hostilities in Europe, then moved to Gotha for occupational duty.

Casualties
Total battle casualties: 4,922
Killed in action: 932
Wounded in action: 3,668
Missing in action: 185
Prisoners of war: 137

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