view raw text
James Mankin Receives Bronze Star Medal Awarded by Army HOUSTON, Tex., June 19.— James Man-kin, of Daily Racing Forms Houston staff, has received a bronze star medal awarded to him in an Army order issued by the late President Roosevelt for "exemplary conduct in ground combat on September 9, 1943, while with the 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Division." Mankin didnlt know -the medal was coming to him and the explanation of the delay was that he had lost his Army discharge papers and only recently applied for a copy in order to start the, purchase of a home for his bride of one month, Ann. His valor in battle, the modest ex-sergeant Mankiir says, was keeping his quad scattered and rolling in mud and ditches when they ran into a nest of German tanks in a cornfield after landing at Salerno. The tanks sprayed machine gun bullets in their direction, but the sergeant ordered his men to spread and roll about, and all came out without a scratch. Mankin never thought rolling in the mud heroic enough to talk about and even Ann never knew of the incident. But the "exemplary conduct" did not escape the notice of Jims superiors.
