Allentown Men Among Honored By Holland
First Lieutenant James P. Richardson and Corporal John Leh II were among the 6,000 glidermen and parachutists of the famous 82nd Airborne Division who on Wednesday received Holland's highest unit award, the Military Order of William. The
division that paced the invasion of Normandy and the drive that liberated Holland is the second unit in Dutch history and the first foreign unit to be awarded the decoration. It was given in recognition of the division's airborne operation at Nijmegen last year and was awarded by the Netherlands' war minister, Johannes Meynen, in a ceremony at the Tempelhof Airdrome in Berlin. There have
been reports, however, that the unit which is scheduled to leave Berlin late this month will be deactivated upon its return to the United States. If this happens, the majority of the men will have to
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Allentown
Men Continued from Page 5
surrender both the orange lanyard of the Dutch award and the red
and green Fourragére cordons bestowed upon them last
week by the Belgian government.
Proud of the honors they have received and of the tributes paid
them, men of the division believe they have earned a
right to a place in America's standing army. General
Sir Miles Dempsey. former commander of the British
2nd Army, once called the 82nd "the best division in
the world."
Lieutenant Richardson, who has been overseas since February, 1944,
is the son of Dr. and Mrs. James Richardson of 628
N. Berks St. He is executive officer of the 508th
Parachute Infantry, a unit recently selected as a
guard of honor for General Eisenhower at
Frankfurt-am-Main. . With the unit in its landings
just ahead of H-Hour on D-Day in Normandy, he was
wounded but soon returned to active duty. He
participated in the division's campaigns in Holland,
Belgium and Germany.
Corporal Leh, son of Mr. and Mrs. G. Edward Leh, 2844 Chew St.
joined the division for the invasion through
Holland. He has been overseas since May 1944 and has
served as a member of the 80th anti-tank battalion,
a glider unit.
[The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, 12 Oct 1945, Fri, Other Editions, Pages
5 and 7]
PFC
FRANK FROHNER
RECEIVED WINGS
Abie --- Mr. and Mrs.
Joseph Frohner received word that their son, Pfc
Frank (Bobby) Frohner was transferred to the 508th
parachute infantry regiment in Germany and received
his wings August 213. From a class of 229 men,
only 34 completed the course.
[ The Banner-Press, David City,
NE, 12 Sep 1946, Thu, Page 6] |