More information:

https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-war/walter-ehlers

https://www.army.mil/article/121560/giant_among_giants_medal_of_honor_recipient_ehlers_laid_to_rest



Second Lieutenant Walter D. Ehlers (World War II). He received the Medal of Honor while serving in the U.S. Army, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, for actions near Goville, France, June 9-10, 1944. Ehlers was born on May 7, 1921, in Junction City, Kansas.

Ehlers joined the United States Army from the city of Manhattan, Kansas, in October 1940. He and his older brother Roland served in the same unit and participated in the fighting in North Africa and Sicily.

By D-Day on June 6, 1944, Ehlers was a staff sergeant and squad leader in the 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. His squad, part of the invasion's second wave, waited off shore in a Landing Craft, Infantry, while the first group of soldiers landed. When the first wave became pinned down on the beach, his unit was transferred to a Higgins boat and sent forward early to assist. They fought their way off the beach and by June 9 were near the town of Goville, 8 miles (13 km) inland. On that day, he led his unit's attack against German forces and single-handedly defeated several enemy machine gun nests. The next day the platoon came under heavy fire. Ehlers was wounded, but managed to cover the platoon's withdrawal; this included carrying a wounded automatic rifleman to safety and running back through enemy fire to retrieve his Browning Automatic Rifle. After treatment of his wounds, Ehlers refused to be evacuated and continued to lead his squad. For his actions he was awarded the Medal of Honor five months later, on 11 December 1944. He was decorated in Paris in the office of Lieutenant General John C. H. Lee, Commanding General, Communications Zone, ETO. By this time Ehlers had received a battlefield commission to second lieutenant.

On July 14, more than a month after D-Day, Ehlers learned that his brother Roland had died at Omaha Beach when his landing craft was struck by a mortar shell.

Ehlers appeared in the 1955 film The Long Gray Line, starring Tyrone Power. He went on to work for the Veterans Administration, and as a security guard at Disneyland, California. Ehlers died in 2014.
https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/3083.
*The preceding content is not intended as a comprehensive biography, but it highlights their significance as a result of military or civilian distinction, lasting achievements, or association with impactful national events. 



Ehlers (left) with mother, Marie, and brother Roland, KIA, Omaha Beach.

LTG John C.H. Lee presents Ehlers with the Medal of Honor.

WALTER D EHLERS

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