4 Silver Stars

[Subdeacon Joe]

http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/the-legend-of-lightning-joe/

 

“I spotted a German mortar position, so I picked up a bazooka and ran forward to knock it out,” he said. “The Germans I didn’t kill ran away. Then I looked up and this German tank was headed right for me. I jumped into the brush, reloaded the bazooka, and knocked out the tank as it went by.”

Young Joe, just four days short of his 22nd birthday, scurried back to his lines, landing on his posterior. An officer picked him up and said, “Son, you’ve just won a Silver Star.”

 

 

 

Farinholt knew better than to get close to his men. “I had no control over the replacements I got,” he related. “Some men were very green and didn’t last long. I got a call on my radio one day. One of my guys said I better hurry to him because he was thinking about shooting himself. By the time I got there he’d shot himself in the leg. I carried him to the aid station and told him to keep his mouth shut about what happened. That was the only time one of my men cracked. I have no shame in what I did. That boy was a good soldier, but he was only 16.”

 

 

 

Joe’s fourth Silver Star citation describes what happened:

“T/Sgt Joseph A. Farinholt 20343338, 175th Infantry U.S. Army For Gallantry In Action Against the Enemy In Germany. On 26 November, 1944 While the Third Battalion 175th Infantry Was Defending the Town of ***** Enemy Infantry Supported By Tanks Entered the Town and Advanced Against the Battalion’s Thinly Held Line. Realizing the Gravity of the Situation, T/Sgt Farinholt Ordered His Antitank Platoon to Remain In Position Where They Delivered Such Devastating Fire Upon the Enemy That They Were Forced to Divert Their Attack to Another Sector of the Town. Then finding All Communications Severed By Enemy Artillery Fire, T/Sgt Farinholt Despite Suffering a Broken leg, Asked to be Placed in a Vehicle While He Drove Under Fire To the Command Post to Inform the Staff of the Situation. Such Courageous Actions Reflect Great Credit Upon Himself and the Military Service. Entered Military Service From Maryland.”

What the citation did not say was that Joe had suffered life-threatening wounds. “We were doing a good job of keeping the German tanks at a safe distance until the gun nearest our command post was hit and the gunner was killed,” he remembered. “I ran to the gunner to replace the gunner position, and we were able to knock the tread off a Tiger tank, but the tank was still firing. The rest of the crew ducked for cover, but I was stupid enough to stay put while the tank sprayed our position.

The armor-piercing rounds cut through the protective shield of the gun, and I was hit with shrapnel. I didn’t know how bad I was hit until I tried to walk and saw my leg hanging by skin. I crawled to my jeep and made my way to our command post to let them know what was happening. I couldn’t use the brake on the jeep, so I just crashed into a wall. When I looked at my leg I got scared, but somebody said I had a million dollar wound.”

Doctors wanted to amputate Joe’s leg.

“I told them they couldn’t do that because I would need it later,” he smiled. A general happened to be on the scene and ordered the battalion surgeon to try to save Joe’s leg. The leg was saved, but it never completely healed. Farinholt had to wrap it in bandages twice a day for the rest of his life. He also had 20 pieces of shrapnel in his body. The last two pieces did not work their way out until 1986.

 

[Blackwater 53393]

There's someone you just don't want to mess with!! If the leg had been blown clean off, he'd have beaten the enemy to death with it!!

[Sawyer]

SALUTE!