{"id":355,"date":"2019-09-22T10:48:07","date_gmt":"2019-09-22T10:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/?p=355"},"modified":"2019-09-28T03:49:49","modified_gmt":"2019-09-28T03:49:49","slug":"96-year-old-world-war-two-veteran-hero-of-cologne-receives-bronze-star-75-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/96-year-old-world-war-two-veteran-hero-of-cologne-receives-bronze-star-75-years-later\/","title":{"rendered":"96-year-old WWii Veteran “Hero of Cologne” awarded Bronze Star in surprise ceremony 75 years later"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(quote)

\n\nClarence Smoyer received the surprise \u2014 and the award \u2014 of a lifetime, when the Army bestowed on him the Bronze Star for his heroism as a tank gunner during World War II.<\/a>
\nFlanked by a Sherman tank parked on the National Mall just behind the World War II Memorial, Mr. Smoyer and relatives of three of his late crew members received the medal during a special ceremony featuring dignitaries and more than 100 other veterans of the war.

\n\n\u201cI remember all the young boys who lost their lives in the war,\u201d Mr. Smoyer said after the ceremony. \u201cSo many men lost their lives. My cousin was killed over in France. Also, my brother-in-law was killed about the same time. They never had a chance to really live their lives. I always feel something for them.\u201d

\n\nIn urban combat on March 6, 1945, in Cologne, Germany, Mr. Smoyer \u2014 as the gunner \u2014 knocked out a Nazi super-tank beneath the Cologne Cathedral. The opening allowed American troops to overtake a key bridge over the Rhine River during the Allies\u2019 push toward Berlin.

\n\nMr. Smoyer is credited with destroying five German tanks during his service. Mr. Smoyer forfeited his eligibility for a medal of valor after being seen speaking with German children who asked for bubblegum.

\n\nThe medal comes almost 75 years<\/a>
after Smoyer\u2019s act of heroism when he destroyed a Nazi tank in a dramatic duel in Cologne, Germany, that was captured on film by an Army cameramen and recently written about in the book \u201cSpearhead,\u201d by Adam Makos, whose father, Robert Makos, grew up in Plymouth.

\n\nHere is a link to a video about Smoyer\u2019s story as detailed in Spearhead: https:\/\/youtu.be\/w7DAS4Yqr5s.

\n\nOn March 6, 1945, a German Panther tank had just knocked out two American tanks in Cologne, Germany, killing three men. To stop the rampage, Smoyer and his tank crew went and vanquished the Panther. Film of the duel went worldwide and Smoyer became known as \u201cThe Hero of Cologne.\u201d

\n\nSmoyer, 96 of Allentown, is the only surviving member of the tank crew that won the infamous battle. The others \u2014 John Deriggi (of Scranton), Homer Davis, William McVey, and Bob Earley \u2014 were also awarded the Bronze Star posthumously. \u201cI\u2019ll wear this medal for all the guys who didn\u2019t come home,\u201d Smoyer said at the ceremony.

\n\n(unquote)

\n\nPhoto courtesy Washington Times<\/a> and Adam Makos<\/a>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(quote) Clarence Smoyer received the surprise \u2014 and the award \u2014 of a lifetime, when the Army bestowed on him the Bronze Star for his heroism as a tank gunner during World War II. Flanked by a Sherman tank parked on the National Mall just behind the World War IIRead More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9,12],"tags":[55,36,26,25,86,52,60,88,85,87],"class_list":["entry","author-wcp-story-teller","post-355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-figures-and-facts","category-movies-books-and-entertainment","category-us-and-world","tag-books","tag-events","tag-facts","tag-history","tag-military","tag-people","tag-true-story","tag-war","tag-world-war-ii","tag-wwii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}