Harvey Possinger was one of the most highly
decorated veterans of
World War II. He
received every medal for valor in combat except for the
Medal of Honor which was promised to him by
Gen.
Douglas MacArthur.
Unfortunately, his paperwork was lost and he never received the
medal.
[389370]
Drafted in April 1942, he was able to skip basic training due to
civilian military training and left the
Continental United States in May.
Possinger was assigned to B Company,
35th Infantry
Regiment, of the
25th Infantry
Division.
The 25th
Infantry was called into Guadalcanal
to relieve the 1st Marine Division in
November. Possinger, along with the rest of his unit,
arrived at Guadalcanal on
17 December
1942. After weeks of heavy fighting, the island
was secure. This was the first major victory for American forces
and the first piece of real estate the U.S. took back from
Japan.
The next
mission for the 35th Infantry (dubbed “The Cacti”) was to seize and
secure the island of Vella Lavella
in the Northern
Solomons. They made their assault on the island on
15 August,
1943 and
had it secure by
18 September of the
same year. Possinger was wounded three times on Vella Lavalla and
was awarded the Bronze Star for his heroic actions throughout the
campaign in the Northern Solomons.
Next up
was the island of Luzon
in the
Philippines
. Possinger was hit in the left arm and on
March 8,
1945 he was
wounded for the fifth and final time; this time he took a bullet to
the chest at
Belete Pass. He was hit
trying to save his buddies who were ambushed. They sent Possinger
home after that, saying it was because he was to receive the Medal
of Honor.
Awards and decorations
Distinguished Service Cross Citation
Purple Heart with 4 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Medal with 3 Campaign Stars and a
Bronze Arrowhead
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