Beschreibung:

A fine Silver Star, Purple Heart group of three to Sergeant T. W. Bates, 38th Infantry Regiment who was killed in action in Korea U.S.A., Silver Star (Thomas W. Bates), edge numbered, ‘71019, with riband and lapel bars, in case of issue; Purple Heart (Thomas W. Bates), with riband and lapel bars, in case of issue; Army Good Conduct Medal, unnamed, with riband and lapel bars; together with identity disk, extremely fine (3) £400-600 Footnote Sold with two official award documents for the Silver Star (Posthumous), for Gallantry in Action in the vicinity of Taeusan, Korea, 30th July 1951, one to the recipient as a Sergeant (then Corporal), signed, 4.12.1951, the other to the recipient as a Sergeant, signed 7.3.1952. Also with the official award document for the Purple Heart, ‘for wounds received in action resulting in his death, 30th July 1951’; a Memorial scroll; a copy of the recipient’s Silver Star citation and a newspaper cutting. Silver Star citation: ‘Sergeant Thomas W. Bates, RA16343535, (then Corporal), Infantry, United States Army, a member of Company K, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, distinguished himself by gallantry in action on 30 July 1951 in the vicinity of Taeusan, Korea. While the company was in the attack to secure dominating positions held by the enemy, Sergeant Bates, with complete disregard for his own safety, led his squad in a daring assault on the enemy’s position which had stalled the attack of the platoon. Under intense enemy small arms and grenade fire, he advanced towards the crest of the hill using marching fire and grenades, while the remainder of the platoon moved forward. He continually exposed himself to enemy fire to keep the attack moving forward until such time as he was fatally wounded by enemy sniper fire. The gallantry in action demonstrated by Sergeant Bates on this occasion reflects great credit upon himself and the military service’. A newspaper cutting from the San Diego Union tells of an earlier incident involving Sergeant Bates: ‘ On Northeast Front, Korea, Nov. 7 - Seventeen shivering Army survivors reached American lines today and told how Communists they mistook for South Koreans ambushed a 45-truck convoy last night far behind United Nations front lines. The survivors said the Reds poured gasoline on the trucks and set the torch to them. The convoy had just finished carrying the 65th Puerto Rican combat team up to Yonghung, 30 miles north of Wonsan. A sabre-wielding North Korean officer led the ambush. Afterward, the North Koreans blew up the railroad track linking the Northeast port on Wonsan and Hamhung. Then they blasted a bridge. “We were driving back about 7 miles below Yonghung when I saw a gas truck burning on the road ahead,” said Pvt. Thomas Bates of Crystal Falls, Mich. “Suddenly 20 Koreans jumped out in front of us.” ...