Korean War Soldiers Receive ‘Hall of Heroes’ Induction

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2011 — The nation’s two most recent Medal of Hon­or recip­i­ents were added to the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes ros­ter today in what Deputy Defense Sec­re­tary William J. Lynn III said is a trib­ute to their endur­ing val­or.
The Hall of Heroes induc­tion fol­lowed yesterday’s White House cer­e­mo­ny in which Pres­i­dent Barack Oba­ma pre­sent­ed the nation’s high­est mil­i­tary hon­or posthu­mous­ly to Antho­ny T. Kaho’o­hanohano and Hen­ry Svehla, both Army pri­vates 1st class when they were killed in action in the Kore­an War.

Kaho’o­hanohano was hon­ored for his actions of Sept. 1, 1951 when he led a machine-gun squadron with the 7th Infantry Division’s 17th Infantry Reg­i­ment, Com­pa­ny H. 

“Kaho’o­hanohano will always be remem­bered for the lone assault that saved his com­rades, and then inspired their counter attack,” Lynn told the gath­er­ing of fam­i­lies, friends and dig­ni­taries. “His last words — report­ed­ly, ‘I’ve got your back,’ — are a creed our sol­diers car­ry with them today when­ev­er they go in harm’s way.” 

Svehla’s medal was for his actions of June 12, 1952 when he served in Korea as a rifle­man with the 7th Infantry Division’s 32d Infantry Reg­i­ment, Com­pa­ny F. 

“Svehla, sim­i­lar­ly, put the secu­ri­ty of his fel­low troops above his own life,” Lynn said. “His coura­geous counter attack after being fired upon dur­ing a recon­nais­sance mis­sion saved his unit from defeat. And throw­ing him­self on a grenade, he gave the last full mea­sure of his devo­tion to his men, and to the coun­try he swore to defend.” 

With their names now inscribed on a wall, the lega­cies of Kaho’o­hanohano and Svehla are enshrined in the Hall of Heroes, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mar­tin E. Dempsey said. 

“The courage, resilience and tenac­i­ty of Antho­ny and Hen­ry and those they fought along­side and pro­tect­ed every day in one of our more dif­fi­cult wars, con­tributed immea­sur­ably to our unmatched lega­cy as an army, as a force that stands against tyran­ny, pro­tects the weak, and cham­pi­ons free­dom,” Dempsey said. Army Under­sec­re­tary Joseph West­phal said the sol­diers’ actions con­tin­ue to make con­tri­bu­tions today. 

“The actions of Kaho’o­hanohano and Svehla,” he said, “are a time­less inspi­ra­tion for sol­diers who are, once again, fight­ing America’s ene­mies in far­away places, and under very chal­leng­ing conditions.” 

Dempsey pre­sent­ed Hall of Heroes induc­tion plaques to fam­i­ly mem­bers Eugene Kaho’o­hanohano and Sylvia Svehla at the end of the induc­tion ceremony. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs) 

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