🇺🇲WWII uncovered: the Battle of the Bulge: Saluting the Heroes We Lost: Henry Fred Warner Acknowledged with Medal of Honor for Valor

Corporal Henry Fred Warner, of Troy, North Carolina, enlisted with the US Army on January 11, 1943. On December 20, 1944 near Bütgenbach, Belgium Corporal Warner, serving with the 2nd Battalion, 

26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division manned his anti-tank gun through the night and into the next morning, despite intense fire from the approaching German tanks. He successfully disabled several enemy tanks before being fatally wounded by enemy fire.

⭐Corporal Henry Ford Warner's Medal of Honor Citation reads as follows:

Serving as 57-mm antitank gunner with the 2d Battalion, he was a major factor in stopping enemy tanks during heavy attacks against the battalion position near Dom Butgenbach, Belgium, on 20-21 December 1944. 

In the first attack, launched early in the morning on the 20th, enemy tanks succeeded in penetrating parts of the line. Corporal Warner, disregarding the concentrated cannon and machine-gun fire from two tanks bearing down on him and ignoring the imminent danger of being overrun by the infantry moving under tank cover, destroyed the first tank and scored a direct and fatal hit upon the second.

 A third tank approached to within five yards of his position while he was attempting to clear a jammed breach lock. Jumping from his gun pit, he engaged in a pistol duel with the tank commander standing in the turret, eliminating him and forcing the tank to withdraw. 

Following a day and night during which our forces were subjected to constant shelling, mortar barrages, and numerous unsuccessful infantry attacks, the enemy struck in great force on the early morning of the 21st. Seeing a Mark IV tank looming out of the mist and heading toward his position, Corporal Warner scored a direct hit. 

Disregarding his injuries, he endeavored to finish the loading and again fire at the tank, whose motor was now aflame, when He was fatally wounded by enemy fire. Corporal Warner's gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty contributed materially to the successful defense against the enemy attacks.

Corporal Henry Warner was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart Medal six months later, on June 23, 1945. 

Henry was 21 years old at the time of his passing. He lies in rest at Southside Cemetery in Troy North Carolina. Lest We Forget.

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