John J. Pinder Jr.
John J. Pinder Jr. (born June 6, 1912 in McKees Rocks , Pennsylvania , † June 6, 1944 in Colleville-sur-Mer , France ) was a soldier in World War II who was awarded the highest American honor for bravery.
Life
While at Butler High School , Pennsylvania , John Joseph "Joe" Pinder Jr. was an excellent baseball pitcher . In 1935 he was able to sign his first professional commitment and in the following years was under contract with various professional baseball clubs.
military
After the United States entered the Second World War in December 1941, he began his military service on January 27, 1942 in Burgettstown , Pennsylvania. Pinder was the 16th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division of the United States Army assigned and Camp Blanding , Florida and Fort Benning , Georgia trained.
As a Technician Fifth Grade , he was transferred to England in August 1942 as a member of the headquarters company of the regimental headquarters. From there, Pinder took part in the Allied landings in North Africa and the follow-up battles against the Africa Corps . He was also involved in the landing of the Allied troops in Sicily in July 1943. From there, Pinder's headquarters company was transferred back to England in November 1943 to prepare for the upcoming D-Day in Normandy .
On June 6, 1944, on his 32nd birthday, he and his unit took part in Operation Neptune as part of the Allied landing operation on the European mainland . He himself was given the task of bringing an extremely important radio to shore and putting it into operation.
To do this, he was dropped off in a landing craft at Colleville-sur-Mer (better known as Omaha Beach ) about 100 m from the beach and had to fight his way ashore through enemy artillery and machine gun fire in waist-deep water. Here Pinder was hit and seriously wounded. Still, he managed to get the radio ashore. Instead of getting medical treatment and taking cover, he went to the landing craft again in the enemy fire and hid important accessories and another radio. On his third trip to the boat, he was again wounded in the legs by machine gun fire. Still, he refused medical treatment and instead helped establish the vital radio link, with Pinder being hit again, this time fatally.
Joe Pinder was buried in Grandview Cemetery in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, where a memorial was erected in his honor in October 2000.
Awards
Because of his bravery he was posthumously awarded the highest American honor , the Medal of Honor , on January 4, 1945 . Along with Jack Lummus, Pinder was the only professional baseball player to receive the Medal of Honor in World War II.
Also on May 11, 1949, the US Army in Germany named a barracks for the US armed forces in Zirndorf in his honor as Pinder Barracks . After the abandonment of these barracks in the late 1990s, the city administration chose the name Pinderpark for the new settlement on the site of the former barracks .
Web links
- The US Army Center of Military History: List of Medal of Honor recipients (World War II, letters M through S), accessed May 28, 2009
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pinder, John J. Junior |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American military, soldier in World War II |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 6, 1912 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | McKees Rocks , Pennsylvania, USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 6, 1944 |
| Place of death | near Colleville-sur-Mer , France |