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Class VIII Biographies
Inducted in 2016
Second
Lieutenant Erwin R. Bleckley
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1894
- 1918
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Second Lieutenant Erwin R. Bleckley, a native of
Wichita, Kansas, received the Medal of Honor posthumously for heroic actions
as a Field Artillery Forward Observer in finding and assisting the “Lost
Battalion” of the 77th Division during World War I. He was killed in the crash of his biplane
while delivering supplies to the unit.
He had enlisted in Battery F, First Field Artillery, Kansas National
Guard, which became part of the 35th Infantry Division at Camp
Doniphan, Oklahoma upon mobilization for World War I. He later joined the 50th
Aero Squadron, Army Air Service, serving with distinction until his
death. He was buried in France, near
the place where he was killed.
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First
Lieutenant Lyle J. Bouck, Jr.
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1923
-2016
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First Lieutenant Lyle J. Bouck, Jr., was one of
the youngest officers in the U. S. Army during World War II, and was the
recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and the
Presidential Unit Citation for heroic actions in leading his Intel &
Recon Platoon in a delay of the attacking German Sixth Panzer Army during the
Battle of the Bulge. He was mobilized
with the 35th Infantry Division in 1940, serving with the unit
from Camp Robinson, Arkansas to California, before completing Officer
Candidate School and joining the 99th Division as an Intel &
Recon Platoon leader. Captured during
the action, he was released as a Prisoner of War in 1945, and returned to his
hometown of St. Louis.
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Captain
Joseph B. Scully
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1919
- 1944
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Captain Joseph B. Scully commanded Company F, 2d
Battalion, 134th Infantry during the march into Europe, prior to
being mortally wounded by mortar fire in action in Normandy, France, on July
28, 1944. He had landed on Omaha Beach with his unit on July 6, 1944, and led
the unit in the attack on St. Lo. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star
and the Purple Heart for leading his unit, first on a counterattack against
the Germans, then or a reconnaissance patrol through hostile fire to obtain valuable
information on enemy positions and strength. Then, although slightly wounded,
he led his unit on a 700-yard advance in the battle which followed and led to
his death by mortar fire on July 28, 1944
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