An Overlooked Hero

[davedove]

Today I had the privilege of attending an awards ceremony for one of America’s overlooked heroes. Sergeant John Sadd was drafted into the US Army in April of 1944. In the fall of 1944, Private Sadd was deployed to England en route to Normandy, as part of A Company, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. It turned out that Private Sadd was drafted as a replacement for the many casualties that the 29th Infantry Division took storming the beaches of Normandy.



The 29th Infantry Division continued to fight across France and into Germany. Sadd saw plenty of combat from September of 1944 until he was critically wounded on April 5, 1945. He received a battlefield promotion to Sergeant in February of 1945. Sergeant Sadd was injured by a large piece of shrapnel, delivered by the enemy outside of Dortmund, Germany in the Battle of the Roer River during the push to the Siegfried Line.



He returned home after the war and opened the Hillside Dairy, which he and his family operated until his retirement.



Unfortunately, because of his discharge and the massive amount of actions taking place in Military Personnel offices, Sergeant Sadd was overlooked and returned home with only the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. Later, a fire in the Personnel Records storage in St. Louis further buried his actions to obscurity.



Eventually, his grandson, Master Sergeant William Cafferky, knowing his grandfather had served in World War II, began searching through family records in an attempt to recreate the records. His research paid off and the Army, 61 years later, finally presented with the awards Sergeant Sadd had earned through his service.



Sergeant Sadd was presented with the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Good Conduct Medal, the African European Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze battle stars, and the WWII Victory Medal.



As was said during the presentation, perhaps it was fortuitous that the action took so long. By observing the ceremony, I was reminded of what that generation had gone through. Soldiers of the time went to war for the duration, spending years in Europe or the Pacific until the war was over. They sacrificed so much, and none of us would be where we are now if not for them.



Let us also remember that the military is again involved in wars far from home. All of them are making sacrifices for us and future generations. Some will make the ultimate sacrifice.



Let us never forget what our veterans have done for us, and let us never forget what our troops are doing for us today. If you know a WWII veteran, please thank him for what he did. Our lives would be very different without their service and soon, these veterans will no longer be with us. And don’t forget to give your support to those in uniform today. They are serving not for themselves, but for all of us.

[Prester John]

Memory Eternal!

[Livingston]

My much younger cousin is returning from the sandbox at the end of this month. He is a Sgt and was with the National Guard as an MP. He will be stationed at Ft Bragg and will be part of standing up and new MP group there. He's trying to get transfered to Ft Carson which will be great, closer to home and just down the street from me.