Ernest Childers
Ernest Childers | |
|---|---|
180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division | |
| Battles/wars | World War II
|
| Awards | Medal of Honor |
Ernest Childers (February 1, 1918 – March 17, 2005) was a United States Army officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his valorous actions in World War II.
Biography
Childers was born in
In 1937, Childers joined the
Childers reached the rank of lieutenant colonel before retiring from the Army.
Before his death, a middle school was named in his honor, Ernest Childers Middle School, which is a part of Broken Arrow Public Schools and services grades 6th through 8th grade. The Veteran's Administration Medical Center Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is named in his honor, the Ernest Childers Outpatient Clinic.[3]
Medal of Honor citation
Childers' official Medal of Honor citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action on 22 September 1943, at Oliveto, Italy. Although 2d Lt. Childers previously had just suffered a fractured
instep he, with 8 enlisted men, advanced up a hill toward enemy machinegun nests. The group advanced to a rock wall overlooking a cornfield and 2d Lt. Childers ordered a base of fire laid across the field so that he could advance. When he was fired upon by 2 enemy snipers from a nearby house he killed both of them. He moved behind the machinegun nests and killed all occupants of the nearer one. He continued toward the second one and threw rocks into it. When the 2 occupants of the nest raised up, he shot 1. The other was killed by 1 of the 8 enlisted men. 2d Lt. Childers continued his advance toward a house farther up the hill and, single-handed, captured an enemy mortar observer. The exceptional leadership, initiative, calmness under fire and conspicuous gallantry displayed by 2d Lt. Childers were an inspiration to his men.[1]
See also
- List of Native American Medal of Honor recipients
- List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History.
- ^ a b c "Medal of Honor recipients – World War II (A–F)". United States Army Center of Military History. August 3, 2009. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ^ ISBN 1-56311-995-1.
- ^ "Ernest Childers VA Health Care Center". SSR. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
External links
- "Greatest Native American, #33". Archived from the original on December 18, 2005. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
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