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Class X Biographies Inducted in 2018
Major
(Dr.) Ernest W. Slusher
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1875-1957
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MAJ Ernest Slusher was a
physician in Kansas City when he entered World War I as Regimental Surgeon,
140th Infantry, 35th Infantry Division. He served in the Vosges Mountains and
battles in the St. Mihiel, Argonne and Verdun Sectors. Working with his
regiment near Baulny during action of September 26-October 1, 1918, he was severely
gassed. He continued at his work until he collapsed and was carried to a
dressing station for treatment. Without authority, he went back to his
regiment, working all night and into the next day caring for the wounded
until he collapsed a second time. After he had partially recovered, he
returned to duty in the field. Throughout his ordeal, he continually exposed himself to enemy fire.
For his extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty, MAJ Slusher was awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross.
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Captain
Joseph Giacobello
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1919
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CPT Joseph Giacobello of
Pennsylvania served in Company F, 137th Infantry and entered combat in July
1944 during the battle of St. Lo. He received the Silver Star for leading a
patrol against heavy enemy fire while wounded. In September, he received his
second Silver Star for assaulting a Moselle River dam and infiltrating enemy
positions to obtain information allowing his battalion to secure the
bridgehead. After his company commander was wounded, he took command and led
an attack on the village of Hellimer where he was wounded, receiving his
second Purple Heart. In December, he earned the Distinguished Service Cross
when he and two enlisted soldiers assaulted an enemy-held factory and for
three hours, fought a superior enemy force. During the battle, CPT Giacobello killed two
enemy soldiers in hand-to-hand combat.
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Private
First Class Arthur Germano
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1925-2016
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PFC Germano
of New York served in the 320th Infantry Regiment, First Battalion, Company C (1943-1946). Aged 19 when he landed on Omaha Beach on July
6, 1944 his combat began in the deadly Normandy hedgerows. Fought in Normandy,
Northern France and Rhineland Campaigns engaging in the bloody, hard-fought battles
of St. Lo, Mortain, Nancy and Gramercy Forest. His battalion earned a
Presidential Unit Citation for its rescue of the Lost Battalion, 30th Infantry,
in a desperate fight against German tanks and SS infantry. For five months, he suffered the extreme hardship
of combat against a fierce enemy until he could no longer walk due to trench
foot that hospitalized him for four months. Among his many awards, are the
Bronze Star, Combat Infantryman’s Badge and, from France, the Legion d’Honneur
and the Croix De Guerre.
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