Georgia National Guard
Public Affairs Office
 |
| Major Gen. Terry Nesbitt (left), Georgia Army Guard commander, pins the Combat Medic Badge on World War II veteran Clinton Sharp. (Georgia National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Roy Henry) |
CALHOUN, Dec. 2, 2006 – Honoring fellow Soldiers for their dedication to duty and their devotion to each other is something members of 1st Battalion, 108th Armor love doing as much as they love being Soldiers. It really doesn’t matter if that Soldier isn’t one of their own, or that his service happened years before many among the 108th’s ranks were ever born.
Their pride was evident all through the battalion’s drill hall as the North Georgia tankers stood at attention to watch one a Floyd County man finally received recognition for his courage under fire in another time, another place and another war.
Making the presentation of two Bronze Stars, one of them for valor the other for meritorious service, to former Army Pvt. Clinton W. Sharp was Maj. Gen. Terry Nesbitt, Georgia Army Guard commander and director of the Georgia Office of Homeland Security. Nesbitt also presented Sharp with the coveted Combat Medic Badge, the American Campaign Medal and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two service stars.
“It’s a shame it took 60 years to do this for one of our heroes,” Nesbitt said. “
Sharp, now 82, and his wife Loudine live in Scottsdale a small community between Calhoun and Rome. He was a 19-year-old World War II combat medic serving with the 43rd (Winged Victory) Division in Luzon, the Philippines, when he earned his medals. It was that time in the war that Gen. Douglas McArthur had made his triumphant return to the battle-torn island nation which had seen the fall of American influence and the rise of Japanese imperialism.
As a medic, Sharp’s job was to patch up his fallen comrades, ease their suffering as much as he could and get them back to rear area aid stations for treatment.
Although the original citation for Sharp’s awards no longer exists, but a newspaper story of day recounts Sharp’s actions through the words of his commanding general.
“During an advance against the enemy, Private Sharp’s battalion was subjected to heavy enemy fire. Observing a comrade who had been badly wounded, Private Sharp, together with a companion, braved the fire and went to the aid of his fellow Soldier, and then remained with him until additional help could be enlisted to effect removal to a safe position,” the story read. “The courage and fidelity displayed was on inspiration to the men in his organization.”
The article went to account that Sharp and the 43rd “landed on the Lingayen beachhead on Jan. 9,” and that they had liberated the first Luzon towns. Involved in fighting east of Manila, the 43rd had “participated in action against the Japanese on Guadalcanal, New Georgia and New Guinea during its 30 months in the Pacific Theater.”
Private Sharp was getting his medals now, after his son-in-law Jerry Tippen enlisted the assisted of Nesbitt, with whom he is friends. Tippen stated that at some point during the Philippines Campaign, Sharp had been injured and sent to a hospital ship for recovery and then home. His medals never caught up with him, Tippen added.
It took some doing, but with Nesbitt’s help his father-in-law was finally getting the recognition he so deeply deserves, the former 101st Airborne Soldier and Vietnam veteran said.
“Dad and many like him went through a lot in those days and served their country with honor,” Tippen said shortly after Sharp received his medals and a congratulatory hand shake from nearly every Soldier in the 108th Armor. “He deserves it, they all do, although he’ll tell you he didn’t do anything no one else had or would have done in his place.”
As for Sharp, who, according to his wife, doesn’t like a lot of excitement, he stood proudly with his family, his newly received medals pinned to his sports jacket, as they took a family photo.
“The one thing the newspaper article about me didn’t point out was that I was scared the whole time. But then, again, who wasn’t,” Sharp said.
| Back | GaDOD Home |