- Robert Thomas Edlin
Robert Thomas Edlin was awarded the
Texas Legislative Medal of Honor by theTexas Legislature for his actions during battle inWorld War II . House Concurrent Resolution No. 112 conferring the honor was adopted by both the House & Senate and approved by Governor Rick Perry in March 2005. The below text was extracted from the resolution."On
D-Day , June 6, 1944, Lieutenant Edlin helped to lead Company A onto Omaha Beach, receiving debilitating wounds in both legs; evacuated to England the following day, he rejoined his platoon in France on July 15, 1944.""During the late summer of 1944, the
2nd Ranger Battalion was assigned to support the American advance in Britanny; on September 9, preceding a dawn attack on the antiaircraft Graf Spee, or Lochrist, battery near the French city of Brest, Lieutenant Edlin was ordered to lead a four-man reconnaissance "patrol to spot enemy pillboxes and snipers and chart a way through the minefield surrounding the garrison, the capture of which was critical in the effort to retake the port city.""The patrol navigated a large minefield and encountered a German pillbox, where Lieutenant Edlin captured the officer in charge; Lieutenant Edlin then forced the officer to escort him and his interpreter to the commanding officer of the Graf Spee battery. On entering the commander's office, Lieutenant Edlin took a grenade, pulled the pin, and held the grenade to the commander's stomach, forcing him to surrender the fort, along with four 280-mm guns, supporting small-arms positions, pillboxes, and approximately 800 enemy soldiers."
"Recommended by Lieutenant Colonel
James Earl Rudder , commander of the2nd Ranger Battalion , to receive the Medal of Honor, Lieutenant Edlin refused to accept the medal in order to avoid being reassigned to a unit within the continental United States.""Lieutenant Edlin was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his extraordinary heroism in battle, and in 1995 he was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame; a book recounting his remarkable military service was published in 2002."
External links
* [http://texinfo.library.unt.edu/sessionlaws/79thsession/bills/HCR112.pdf House Concurrent Resolution No. 112]
* [http://newsarchives.tamu.edu/stories/02/040402-13.html Rudder's Ranger Turned Author] , Aggie Daily, April 4, 2002
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