*COWAN, RICHARD ELLER
Rank and organization: Private First
Class, U.S. Army, Company M, 23d Infantry, 2d Infantry Division. Place and date:
Near Krinkelter Wald, Belgium, 17 December 1944. Entered service at: Wichita,
Kans. Birth: Lincoln, Nebr. G.O. No.: 48, 23 June 1945.
Citation:
He was a heavy machinegunner in a section attached to Company I in the vicinity of
Krinkelter Wald, Belgium, 17 December 1944, when that company was attacked by a
numerically superior force of German infantry and tanks. The first 6 waves of hostile
infantrymen were repulsed with heavy casualties, but a seventh drive with tanks killed or
wounded all but 3 of his section, leaving Pvt. Cowan to man his gun, supported by only 15
to 20 riflemen of Company I. He maintained his position, holding off the Germans until the
rest of the shattered force had set up a new line along a firebreak. Then, unaided, he
moved his machinegun and ammunition to the second position. At the approach of a Royal
Tiger tank, he held his fire until about 80 enemy infantrymen supporting the tank appeared
at a distance of about 150 yards. His first burst killed or wounded about half of these
infantrymen. His position was rocked by an 88mm. shell when the tank opened fire, but he
continued to man his gun, pouring deadly fire into the Germans when they again advanced.
He was barely missed by another shell. Fire from three machineguns and innumerable small
arms struck all about him; an enemy rocket shook him badly, but did not drive him from his
gun. Infiltration by the enemy had by this time made the position untenable, and the order
was given to withdraw. Pvt. Cowan was the last man to leave, voluntarily covering the
withdrawal of his remaining comrades. His heroic actions were entirely responsible for
allowing the remaining men to retire successfully from the scene of their last-ditch
stand.
