1st Sgt Paul Cobb
US ARMY ~World War II

Though it would never be forgotten, it would take 55 years for Paul Cobb to finally receive the honor he so truly deserved. Paul Cobb had just returned home from Lexington where he had been visiting his wife in the hospital one day last month. Stepping up on the front porch, he saw the inconspicuous brown envelope sticking out of the mailbox on the front porch of his Pelham Street home. "I didn"t know what it was. I wondered, but I didn"t know," Cobb said. Once inside the front door, Cobb opened the package to find something he had been waiting on for more than half his 81 years - medals he earned as a soldier in World War II. "I opened it up and saw them," Cobb said, his voice breaking. "I was choked up, after all these years, I was choked up." A Bronze Star with an Oak Leaf Cluster signifying two incidents of gallantry; a Purple Heart with three Oak Leaf Clusters, marking four times he was wounded in battle; a campaign ribbon with an Arrowhead and five Battle Stars; a Good Conduct medal; a Combat Infantry Badge; and a half dozen other ribbons had finally been delivered to Cobb more than 55 years after he mustered out of the Army following service in World War II. Cobb volunteered for service when he was 20 years old and spent almost five years in the 39th Infantry Division, reaching the rank of 1st Sgt. He served in battles from Africa to Belgium to Sicily. He was wounded in the face, the back, the hand and was hit at least 22 times in his legs. Cobb"s division landed on the beaches of Normandy 10 days after the first troops landed in June 1944. Recalling the picture that greeted him, he paused to collect his thoughts and his emotions. Almost two weeks after the first wave of troops hit the French beach, the bodies of American soldiers littered the sand, Cobb remembered. "The beach was covered with guys laying there just like dead flies," He said.

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