 |
| 2nd Lt. Walter Bomberger earned the Silver Star while serving in the 35th Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54085164/walter-andrew-bomberger/photo http://www.35thinfdivassoc.com/Ardennes/Ardennes-Story-1.shtml |
Lieutenant Walter Andrew Bomberger never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born August 1, 1920 in Lincoln, Nebraska. His parents were Andrew Roy Bomberger, who worked in street maintenance, and Mary Pauline Mandery Bomberger. He attended the University of Nebraska in 1938-39 and enlisted in the Nebraska National Guard October 10, 1939. In 1940 he was working in construction when his unit was mobilized in the military buildup prior to World War II,
During the war he served in General George Patton’s Third Army in the 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division. He was wounded in the battle for St. Lo in France in July of 1944. After recuperating from his wounds, he returned to duty in September and earned a battlefield commission as a Second Lieutenant in November. On January 2, 1945, he was killed in Belgium in the Battle of the Bulge. For his gallantry that day he was awarded the Silver Star. The citation read:
When his platoon was about to cross open terrain in an attack upon strong enemy positions, it was subjected to an intense enemy mortar barrage augmented by small arms fire. Realizing that that success of the operation lay in pressing the attack Lieutenant Bomberger shouted words of encouragement to his men, urging them to follow him as he began to cross the open ground under enemy fire. While directing and leading his men in the final assault upon the objective, Lieutenant Bomberger was killed by enemy fire. His outstanding leadership, courage and disregard of personal safety bespoke such gallantry in action as to be in accord with military tradition.
His Silver Star Medal was presented posthumously to his father July 9, 1945 at the family home by Colonel James B. Murphy, director of military training at the University of Nebraska.
Lt. Bomberger was initially buried in a cemetery in Europe. His remains were returned to the United States in 1948 and he was interred in the Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska. In addition to his parents, he was survived by a sister and two brothers. His parents, who passed away in the Seventies, are buried alongside him.
Thank you Lieutenant Bomberger for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Walter.
________________
This profile was written by John F. Schlatter (whose birthday is today!). “I’m from Knoxville, Tennessee and a retired corporate public relations manager, living in Las Vegas. I served as an active duty and reserve Army officer 1974-82. I’ve written two books about veterans. One tells the stories of WWII veterans through postcards they wrote to the folks back home, and the other honors about 50 of the 168 Americans who died in Vietnam on the Fourth of July. I’ve also been a volunteer in the effort to find photographs of all 58,000 Americans who died in Vietnam. Researching and writing the stories of those who died to preserve freedom has gone from a hobby to a passion for me. If we don’t honor and remember, who will?”
This is one of the final 50 stories (33) to be written as part of this project which ends on September 2, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. At that time more than 1,370 men and women will have been profiled. The project will live on in an expanded program to write the stories of all 400,000+ US World War II fallen. Visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org to learn more. We welcome your continued support and interest and encourage you to help write some of these stories.
Last year on this date I profiled Frank Horabik, 9th Infantry Division. You can read about Frank here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Follow on Twitter @ww2fallen100
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
WW2 Fallen 100 is supported by
The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation
“Where Every Day is Memorial Day”
No comments:
Post a Comment