He Would Have Been 89 Today
written by Celtic Merlin a Daily Kos writer on September 23, 2009
It seems that the most uncommon acts of generosity, humanity, and bravery most often come from the most common of us. These acts of selflessness seem to be committed overwhelmingly by those who would have most likely passed through this world with no more notice than is given the average sparrow. Today, I would like you to join me in taking just a moment or two to pause and reflect upon the life of one such sparrow man – one of us average folk.
Charles E. Kelly (Yes, even his name is unremarkable.) was born on September 23, 1920 in Pittsburgh, PA. I cannot tell you anything about his home or family life other than he was one of nine brothers. Else, I was able to locate no further information on Mr. Kelly’s early life in Pittsburgh. It seems that none may exist. Of the first 100 results in a Google search, no information about this man’s life before he joined the US Army is available. He was likely no more than the definition of "a common man".
His uncommon deeds are detailed over the fold. Join me there, won't you?
Mr. Kelly joined the US Army in May of 1942. It seems that there was a war raging in Europe and across much of the eastern Pacific at that time. Why Mr. Kelly waited 5 months from the attack on Pearl Harbor to join the military is unknown as he was over the age of 21 when that attack took place and would have needed no permissions from his parents nor to lie about his age in order to be inducted in December of 1941.
Again, I was unable to locate any details of the man’s life in the Army before one significant date. That date is September 13, 1943 – a Monday. By that date, Kelly had advanced in rank to Corporal – up from Private but not as far as Sergeant. Corporal Kelly was serving as a member of Company L, 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division. His unit was in Italy, fighting the German Army near a town known at the time as Altavilla and known today as Altavilla Silentina. The terrain is there steep and hilly, but not quite mountainous. What follows is the Army’s account of Corporal Kelly’s activities of that day, taken from his Citation for the Medal of Honor:
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company L, 143d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division.
Place and date: Near Altavilla, Italy, 13 September 1943.
Entered service at: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Birth: Pittsburgh, Pa.
G.O. No.: 13, 18 February 1944.
Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.
On 13 September 1943, near Altavilla, Italy, Cpl. Kelly voluntarily joined a patrol which located and neutralized enemy machinegun positions. After this hazardous duty he volunteered to establish contact with a battalion of U.S. infantry which was believed to be located on Hill 315, a mile distant. He traveled over a route commanded by enemy observation and under sniper, mortar, and artillery fire; and later he returned with the correct information that the enemy occupied Hill 315 in organized positions.
Immediately thereafter Cpl. Kelly, again a volunteer patrol member, assisted materially in the destruction of 2 enemy machinegun nests under conditions requiring great skill and courage. Having effectively fired his weapon until all the ammunition was exhausted, he secured permission to obtain more at an ammunition dump.
Arriving at the dump, which was located near a storehouse on the extreme flank of his regiment's position, Cpl. Kelly found that the Germans were attacking ferociously at this point. He obtained his ammunition and was given the mission of protecting the rear of the storehouse. He held his position throughout the night.
The following morning the enemy attack was resumed. Cpl. Kelly took a position at an open window of the storehouse. One machine gunner had been killed at this position and several other soldiers wounded. Cpl. Kelly delivered continuous aimed and effective fire upon the enemy with his automatic rifle until the weapon locked from overheating. Finding another automatic rifle, he again directed effective fire upon the enemy until this weapon also locked. At this critical point, with the enemy threatening to overrun the position, Cpl. Kelly picked up 60mm. mortar shells, pulled the safety pins, and used the shells as grenades, killing at least 5 of the enemy. When it became imperative that the house be evacuated, Cpl. Kelly, despite his sergeant's injunctions, volunteered to hold the position until the remainder of the detachment could withdraw. As the detachment moved out, Cpl. Kelly was observed deliberately loading and firing a rocket launcher from the window. He was successful in covering the withdrawal of the unit, and later in joining his own organization.
Cpl. Kelly's fighting determination and intrepidity in battle exemplify the highest traditions of the U.S. Armed Forces.
That citation is quoted in its entirety from a US government website which lists the Medal of Honor citations of all recipients. Corporal Kelly's is
The Medal of Honor Citation
KELLY, CHARLES E.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company L, 143d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Altavilla, Italy, 13 September 1943. Entered service at: Pittsburgh, Pa. Birth: Pittsburgh, Pa. G.O. No.: 13, 18 February 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. On 13 September 1943, near Altavilla, Italy, Cpl. Kelly voluntarily joined a patrol which located and neutralized enemy machinegun positions. After this hazardous duty he volunteered to establish contact with a battalion of U.S. infantry which was believed to be located on Hill 315, a mile distant. He traveled over a route commanded by enemy observation and under sniper, mortar, and artillery fire; and later he returned with the correct information that the enemy occupied Hill 315 in organized positions. Immediately thereafter Cpl. Kelly, again a volunteer patrol member, assisted materially in the destruction of 2 enemy machinegun nests under conditions requiring great skill and courage. Having effectively fired his weapon until all the ammunition was exhausted, he secured permission to obtain more at an ammunition dump. Arriving at the dump, which was located near a storehouse on the extreme flank of his regiment's position, Cpl. Kelly found that the Germans were attacking ferociously at this point. He obtained his ammunition and was given the mission of protecting the rear of the storehouse. He held his position throughout the night. The following morning the enemy attack was resumed. Cpl. Kelly took a position at an open window of the storehouse. One machine gunner had been killed at this position and several other soldiers wounded. Cpl. Kelly delivered continuous aimed and effective fire upon the enemy with his automatic rifle until the weapon locked from overheating. Finding another automatic rifle, he again directed effective fire upon the enemy until this weapon also locked. At this critical point, with the enemy threatening to overrun the position, Cpl. Kelly picked up 60mm. mortar shells, pulled the safety pins, and used the shells as grenades, killing at least 5 of the enemy. When it became imperative that the house be evacuated, Cpl. Kelly, despite his sergeant's injunctions, volunteered to hold the position until the remainder of the detachment could withdraw. As the detachment moved out, Cpl. Kelly was observed deliberately loading and firing a rocket launcher from the window. He was successful in covering the withdrawal of the unit, and later in joining his own organization. Cpl. Kelly's fighting determination and intrepidity in battle exemplify the highest traditions of the U.S. Armed Forces.
You may read the citations of many others if you desite here Medal of Honor
The President, in the name of Congress, has awarded more than 3,400 Medals of Honor to our nation's bravest Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen since the decoration's creation in 1861. For years, the citations highlighting these acts of bravery and heroism resided in dusty archives and only sporadically were printed. In 1973, the U.S. Senate ordered the citations be compiled and printed as a Committee on Veterans' Affairs report. This book was later updated and a reprint published in 1979.
The citations provided here are taken from the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs Report, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863-1978 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1979).
For awards made after 1978, the citations are taken either from the CRS Report for Congress: Medal of Honor Recipients: 1979-2008 dated 4 June 2008, or in some cases, from the citations officially released and published at the time of award by the White House.
N.B.Some minor misspelling and other errors unfortunately, may be duplicated from the 1979 government publication. These were likely the result of the original transcriptions and reflect the nature of the published compilation. Other errors, however, may have crept into the citations during the course of digitizing the original report for website posting, every effort will be made to identify and correct those conversion errors.
The following is an index of the full-text citations by war.
So reads the citation for the very first enlisted man to earn the Medal of Honor in the European Theatre of Operations, Corporal Charles E. "Commando" Kelly – "The One-Man Army".
In an interview conducted for television some time in 1956 or ‘57 by Mike Wallace (of "60 Minutes" fame), it was revealed that Kelly was credited with killing 40 German soldiers in a matter of only 20 minutes. This was, in my opinion, an impressive feat in 1943 – before the advent of body armor, Kevlar helmets, and today’s level of weaponry. Personally, I find it impressive that the man got away with pulling the safety pins on 60mm mortar shells and lobbing those at the enemy without being killed by enemy fire or one of those mortars. And he accomplished all of this without suffering so much as a scratch.
You can watch the entire TV interview
Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes interviews Charles E Kelly
Warning: Cigarette commercials are included in the recording of this program, as they were commonplace in the 1950’s. In this interview, Mr. Kelly expresses opinions which would likely be considered extreme by today’s standards, but were not considered to be out-of-line some 50+ years ago when the Cold War was a very important part of American daily life.
Mr. Kelly’s Wikipedia entry on Charles E. Kelly states that after receiving his MOH,
...Kelly toured the country with a group of other infantrymen as part of the Army Ground Forces' "Here's Your Infantry," demonstrating various battle techniques and selling war bonds. When the tour ended, Kelly was assigned to the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Kelly received an honorable discharge from the Army in 1945, at the rank of technical sergeant.
So ends the man’s military service. Quietly and without fanfare.
Mr. Kelly’s life after his discharge is somewhat better documented. Again, from Wikipedia:
He opened a service station on the North Side of Pittsburgh in 1946, but was forced to sell it in 1947 after a downturn in business and a robbery. His wife Mae was diagnosed with uterine cancer that same year, and died in 1951. The cost of the radiation treatments for Mae eventually resulted in Kelly losing his home in foreclosure.
He married again, had several children, and was divorced from his second wife in 1962. In late 1984, Kelly was admitted to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Pittsburgh, suffering from kidney and liver failure. He died January 11, 1985 at age 64, and was buried at Highwood Cemetery in Pittsburgh.
Here is a man who started life from humble beginnings, served his nation with distinction, saved the lives of many of his fellow soldiers, and was then neglected by his country – our country – despite his amazing feats in battle against a determined enemy. Forty German soldiers didn’t die in retreat from an ammo dump. They died attacking with resolve to take that position he was defending. Kelly’s medal citation can’t realistically cover the details of actions he took, the fear he felt, or the extreme direness of his situation. He surely expected to die in that storehouse as others had before him.
I'm taking the opportunity to honor a very brave man on what would have been his 89th birthday. He died nearly 25 years ago. I want to add the Celtic Merlin version of a "Special Comment".
Please Note: The title of the award is "Medal of Honor" and not "Congressional Medal of Honor". Recipients of this award are so highly considered by the military community itself that when they are displaying the ribbon signifying themselves as recipients of the MOH they are not required to be the first to salute higher-ranking military personnel, as is customary. Rather, ALL military personnel are required to salute these men first as a sign of respect.
As respected as this man was while he wore the uniform of our nation's Army, the story of Charles Kelly’s life after his military service is one which we, as a nation, can’t afford to allow to be repeated. Medical care, education assistance, and counseling services are owed these people. It seems that the cost of medical care was just as financially devastating 60 years ago as it is today, even for the families of decorated veterans. Medical bills cost this man his home. Hell, we owe ourselves and each other – all of us – the benefit of good and timely medical care. But beyond that, we owe the people who risk their lives in service to our nation the benefit of taking better care of them than we have in the past. If we are to maintain a strong defense, we will need the personnel to do so. If we can’t promise a higher level of support for those who voluntarily take up arms and risk their very lives for us, we may find that we won’t have the people we need to accomplish anything meaningful. We may find that we’re stuck with extremely expensive (in so very many ways) no-bid contracts to companies like Halliburton and Blackwater.
The United States of America spends more money on its defense budget than anything else that it spends money on. If attracting enough new recruits and then caring for these people once their duty is done takes closing some of our 700 overseas military bases that we maintain in roughly 130 countries, cutting the pay and benefits of top military officials (who leave military service very well taken care of), and/or canceling a few of the more ridiculous programs and contracts that the Pentagon has.....that’s all fine with me. The well-being of the average "grunt" soldier, sailor, airman, and marine are worth it to me. How about you?
I welcome your comments and questions.
Celtic Merlin
Carlinist
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My profound thanks to Celtic Merlin, he has brought a true American hero to life for us, and how even his story of personal courage, ties in todays healthcare debate, he lost his home due to his wife's battle with cancer. He battled life's injustices just as he fought our wars, quietly and efficiently without demanding help, he did what he had to do, this nation is a better place because of the Charles E. Kellys of this nation. I will atek the time to learn about a new Medal of Honor awardee weekly from now on, it's the least I can do, to help these hero's live on, if nowhere else but in my mind, the documentation is there, please take a few minutes a week and learn about the true hero's who walked amongst us quietly for decades.Sphere: Related Content
