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AMERICAN HERO
The Diboll resident and member of VFW Post 8933 officially was awarded the Bronze Star medal he earned almost 65 years ago. Making the presentation was retired Lt. Col. Steven Berry. Kessinger earned the medal as an Army corporal n December 1944, when a shell exploded in his camp in Borheim, Germany, injuring several soldiers. Kessinger quickly put out flames on some of the injured soldiers by rolling them in the mud of the camp, then helped medical corpsmen dress the burns and wounds, according to the citation Berry read before presenting the medal. This isn't a case of overlooked heroism. The citation Berry read was dated April 1945. Kessinger said a presentation ceremony was scheduled at one point, but it was raining and the band refused to play. So the ceremony was canceled. "They let us fight in the rain all the time," he noted. What with World War II coming to an end and the confusion of setting up the occupation of Germany, the medal never was awarded to Kessinger. His wife, Margeurite, and daughter Joyce Crager tried for years to get the medal. Then, Kessinger's step-grandson, Kevin Moore, joined the Army about a year and a half ago and began working on the problem. Apparently, it's easier for insiders because Moore managed to deliver the medal. Kessinger said he received it into his hands Christmas Eve night. The ceremony Saturday at the VFW post makes it official. He was 20 years old and had been in Europe eight months when the incident happened. Kessinger said the official version of the mishap was that a U.S. shell exploded prematurely, but that actually an incoming German 88 shell set off the U.S. shell. "That's not what they say, but I was there." Sixty-four years later, the details aren't so important. What is important is that justice finally has been done for Ellis Kessinger. |
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