John Robertson

Administrator
Staff member
  • SURNAME
Baldwin
  • FORENAME
Leon Ernest
  • UNIT
504 Parachute Infantry Regiment (Company I)
  • RANK
Staff Sergeant
  • NUMBER
39311399
  • DATE OF DEATH
27th September 1944
  • AGE
28
  • GRAVESITE
Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands Tablets of the Missing
  • ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
from Benton County, Oregon
born 30.10.1916, Timber, Washington County, Oregon, USA
father Arthur John Baldwin (1884-1976)
mother Edna Belle (nee Morris) Baldwin (1892-1976)
4 years high school
civil occupation semiskilled lumbermen, raftsmen and woodchoppers
employed by Tidewater Timer Company
single without dependents upon enlistment
16.10.1940 draft card Oregon
24.06.1942 entered service Portland, Oregon
awards Silver Star, Bronze Star
KIA Groesbeek-Wylerbaan, Holland
 

DATE OF DEATH:

27-Sep-1944

AWARD:

https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/baldwin-leon-e.34233/

CITATION:

Silver Star : The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Staff Sergeant Leon E Baldwin (ASN: 39311399), United States Army, for gallantry in action on 27 September 1944 in the Den Heuval Woods near ****, Holland. During the night of 26 September, Staff Sergeant Baldwin, Platoon Sergeant of the Second Platoon of Company I, 3d Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, was directing the fire of his BAR men from an advanced position upon small groups of enemy infantry who were trying to infiltrate his company's lines. At dawn an estimated battalion of enemy infantry supported by tanks and under the protective cover of a heavy artillery barrage made a determined attack upon the company position. Staff Sergeant Baldwin saw an enemy infantryman kill one of his machine gunners about twenty yards to his left flank and crawl into the foxhole behind the gun. Without hesitation and completely unmindful of his own safety, Staff Sergeant Baldwin leaped from his own foxhole, charged across the open ground in full view of the advancing enemy, and bayoneted the German. He then threw the dead German aside and turned the gun on the enemy. Remaining exposed to the full concentration of enemy fire, he caused innumerable casualties in the enemy ranks by his fearless and skillful operation of the gun. Seeing the untenable situation the company was in, the company commander gave the order to move to the main line of resistance. Staff Sergeant Baldwin took charge of 45 enemy prisoners and started to evacuate them. Suddenly, an enemy tank bore down on them and drove between Staff Sergeant Baldwin and his prisoners, thus cutting him off from all possibility of withdrawing. As a result of this action Staff Sergeant Baldwin has been missing in action. The cool courage of Staff Sergeant Baldwin, exhibited in the face of great personal danger, and his unselfish willingness to sacrifice himself in the aid of his comrades will long inspire the remainder of his company who witnessed his actions. His unswerving devotion to duty reflects the highest credit upon his military training.

WEB LINKS:

https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/90232

FINDAGRAVE:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56296487/leon-e-baldwin
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