PFC Earl W. Barnes
31 Inf Div PH CIB
Philippines, WWII
Earl was born in July of 1925 in rural Johnson County. He joined the Army in Oct. 1944 then did 13 weeks of boot camp at Camp Wolters, Texas. Next he went to Fort Ord, California for three more weeks of training then off to San Francisco to catch the troopship “Patrick Henry” that ended at Leyte in the Philippines with a membership in the 124th Infantry Regiment, 31st Infantry Div. At Mindanao, a Colonel gave them a pep talk for a patrol. He said there weren’t many Japanese around. After a week walking mountain jungle trails, shots started an ambush, everyone hit the ground and returned fire. Earl had been shot in the shoulder. Filipinos manned stretchers and the walking wounded, then walked, for three days. They reached a collection point and were taken to a hospital tent with a dirt floor where surgery was performed. After a cruise on a hospital ship, Earl ended up in a hospital in Oklahoma then at Camp Carson where he was discharged in Feb. 1946.
Honors Earned: Purple Heart, APTC (Asiatic Pacific Theater Campaign Medal) with 1 bronze star, CIB (Combat Infantry Badge), & WWII Victory Medal.
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