Walter D. Ehlers

Walter David Ehlers (May 7, 1921 – February 20, 2014) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the US Armed Forces' highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in World War II.

Many of those who enjoy freedom know little of its price.

Quotes

What was it like on D-Day? That is the question most asked of veterans who were here then. We will surely all agree that it was the longest day of our lives.

It probably changed my life, no doubt about it. But then, like I tell most people, I live life one day at a time, and what happens, happens. And that just happened to be a part of it. I didn't do any great big planning about my career- except I never wanted to be unemployed.

Today, fifty years later, the beaches are quiet. We come back to mourn our losses, and to celebrate our success. Our presence here commemorates our and our comrades' lives, and it validates the sacrifices we all made on D-Day. What was it like on D-Day? That wave in Southampton, England, was the last time I saw my brother. He died here, on Omaha Beach. That we can be here today proves that it was not in vain.

D-Day 50th anniversary speech (6 June 1994)

Note: Ehlers spoke in person at the site of the 6 June 1944 landings at Omaha Beach. A transcript of his speech there is featured in Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in their Own Words (2003) by Larry Smith, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, pages 34-36.

• What was it like on D-Day? That is the question most asked of veterans who were here then. We will surely all agree that it was the longest day of our lives.
  • p. 34

• We were the men on the front line, but the hard work of our mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers still at home made this tremendous military operation possible. We came on our feet, but we brought their hearts- and prayers- with us.
  • p. 34

• We waded and scrambled toward shore. We found men pinned down on the beach, many wounded or killed and many terrified, all surrounded by ruined and swamped landing craft. The dead and wounded soldiers, the wreckage, the ability of the enemy to cause so much damage, made us realize that this war- with its noise of mines detonating, airplanes' continuous roar, mortar and artillery shells bursting on the beach, rifle and machine-gun fire ripping holes in the sand and splashing in the water- this war was far from over. However, D-Day turned the tide. Sadly, it was the end of the war for a great many brave men who died here that day. But it was also the beginning of the end of the war for Hitler.
  • p. 34-35

• The world changed on June 6, 1944, the day the good guys took charge again. It did not mean peace, but it marked the stand for freedom that would continue through the Korean War, the Vietnam conflict, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the Allied containment of Iraq. The spirit of D-Day carried Allied momentum across the hedgerows of France, through the Ardennes and the Battle of the Bulge, and toward Berlin; it put new hope into the battle-weary troops in the Pacific.
  While we braved these then-fortified beaches to beat back Hitler and to liberate Europe, we fought for much more than that. We fought to preserve what our forefathers had died for. We picked up our guns to protect our faith, to preserve our liberty.
  • p. 35

• Our purpose went well beyond aiding our allies as they faced the German blitz. It was to save our way of life, for our parents and siblings at home, for our children, and the children we hoped to have, and for their children. It has been a way of life that was worth fighting for. We have enjoyed the longest period of world peace in modern history. We relish new spectrums of religious, racial, and political tolerance. We are free of the tyrannies of the likes of Hitler. We must not forget, however, what this freedom cost. We earned that security with our sweat and our blood, some of us with our lives. Much of it was earned right here in Normandy. Many of those who enjoy freedom know little of its price.
  • p. 35

• Today, fifty years later, the beaches are quiet. We come back to mourn our losses, and to celebrate our success. Our presence here commemorates our and our comrades' lives, and it validates the sacrifices we all made on D-Day. What was it like on D-Day? That wave in Southampton, England, was the last time I saw my brother. He died here, on Omaha Beach. That we can be here today proves that it was not in vain.
  • p. 36

Beyond Glory (2003) interview

Note: Edited interview transcript featured in Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in their Own Words (2003) by Larry Smith, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, pages 19-36.

• I was born and raised in the state of Kansas. I was a farm boy, and nowadays I keep hearing people say, 'Well, a lot of farm boys got the Medal of Honor.' I don't know if that's true or not, but I do know a lot of city boys got the Medal of Honor. The first thing I experienced was that to join the Army in Kansas under the age of twenty-one you had to have your parents' signature. When I confronted my mother and dad, my dad said he would sign, but my mother said, 'Son, I will sign on one condition.: If you promise to be a Christian soldier.' She said that with tears in her eyes. I promised her that I would do my best. I carried that faith throughout my military career. It helped all the way through.
  • p. 23

• I was on the train, and another fellow says, 'I'm reading here where your brother got the Medal of Honor.' I said, 'Yes, I'm reading about that, too.' But I didn't tell him it was me he was reading about because I had not got the Medal yet. I got off the train, and I was headed for the CP, the Command Post, when a colonel called me by my last name. I was in fatigue uniform, and I didn't know any colonels. But this colonel knew me. He said, 'Sergeant Ehlers, what are you doing here?' I said, 'Well, sir, I'm reporting back to duty.' He says, 'Well, you're supposed to be back in the States getting the Medal of Honor from President Roosevelt.' And I said, 'Yes, sir, I read about it in Stars and Stripes.
  A couple of days later they had me come to a press conference, and I'm just standing there. Then the general told the people that he wanted to introduce me to them and what I did in Normandy and so forth. Me? The Medal of Honor? It was quite a sensation to the press corps there to meet a Medal of Honor guy. I didn't look like anything, a young kid with a helmet, no stripes, never decorated before. Major General Clarence R. Huebner promoted me after he introduced me as having received the Medal of Honor- which I still hadn't received yet. He introduced me as Lieutenant Ehlers. After the press conference, we were coming out of there, he had his arm around my shoulder, and he said, 'Sergeant Ehlers, I'm going to promote you to second lieutenant.' I said, 'Well, sir, I don't think I qualify.' He said, 'You qualify.' I said, 'Yes, sir.'
  • p. 29-30

• I had medals, but they were never presented because we were always in combat. So when I got my Medal of Honor, why, they found out that I had gotten the Silver Star in Germany, and then I got Bronze Stars in Africa and Sicily, and then I got a Bronze Star for D-Day for that action I did there, taking out that pillbox. Also the British Military Medal. I got the Silver Star in Germany before getting wounded for the fourth time. I got the Purple Heart three times. I could have had it four.
  • p. 30

• It probably changed my life, no doubt about it. But then, like I tell most people, I live life one day at a time, and what happens, happens. And that just happened to be a part of it. I didn't do any great big planning about my career- except I never wanted to be unemployed.
  • p. 33

• When I came home, I never used the Medal at any time, except when I went to the inaugurations of the Presidents. They always invite the Medal of Honor recipients. I went to about every inauguration from Truman to now. I went to the one for Bush, but I didn't go to Clinton's because I wasn't a Clinton man. In 1994, on the fiftieth anniversary of the invasion, I went to France and gave the main address at Omaha. There was a French liberation ceremony on the beach that daym, and I come marching in with the troops, and then they marched me up. There was a microphone in the middle of the field, and of course I had a general escorting me.
  It was pretty nice. I'm standing out here in the middle of this field and I'm giving the address that day for the First Division; they had another guy, from the 29th Division, I think it was, but I gave the first speech. I got tremendous applause and accolades. Anyway, Clinton was in the audience that day, and I talked to him down on the beach.
  • p. 33

Quotes about Ehlers

• For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 9–10 June 1944, near Goville, France. S/Sgt. Ehlers, always acting as the spearhead of the attack, repeatedly led his men against heavily defended enemy strong points exposing himself to deadly hostile fire whenever the situation required heroic and courageous leadership. Without waiting for an order, S/Sgt. Ehlers, far ahead of his men, led his squad against a strongly defended enemy strong point, personally killing 4 of an enemy patrol who attacked him en route. Then crawling forward under withering machinegun fire, he pounced upon the guncrew and put it out of action. Turning his attention to 2 mortars protected by the crossfire of 2 machineguns, S/Sgt. Ehlers led his men through this hail of bullets to kill or put to flight the enemy of the mortar section, killing 3 men himself. After mopping up the mortar positions, he again advanced on a machinegun, his progress effectively covered by his squad. When he was almost on top of the gun he leaped to his feet and, although greatly outnumbered, he knocked out the position single-handed. The next day, having advanced deep into enemy territory, the platoon of which S/Sgt. Ehlers was a member, finding itself in an untenable position as the enemy brought increased mortar, machinegun, and small arms fire to bear on it, was ordered to withdraw. S/Sgt. Ehlers, after his squad had covered the withdrawal of the remainder of the platoon, stood up and by continuous fire at the semicircle of enemy placements, diverted the bulk of the heavy hostile fire on himself, thus permitting the members of his own squad to withdraw. At this point, though wounded himself, he carried his wounded automatic rifleman to safety and then returned fearlessly over the shell-swept field to retrieve the automatic rifle which he was unable to carry previously. After having his wound treated, he refused to be evacuated, and returned to lead his squad. The intrepid leadership, indomitable courage, and fearless aggressiveness displayed by S/Sgt. Ehlers in the face of overwhelming enemy forces serve as an inspiration to others.
  • Citation for the Medal of Honor awarded to Ehlers, presented on 11 December 1944 by General John C.H. Lee in Paris, France[1].

• Walter was to lead a squad unscathed up and over the sands of Omaha Beach, while Roland, known as Bud, would be killed two hours later, in the second wave of the invasion, on June 6, 1944, when a German .88 hit his landing craft. A third brother, Claus, served in the Pacific. Marie Ehlers [the Ehlers brothers' mother] lived to be ninety-six.
  • Larry Smith, Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in their Own Words (2003), New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, pages