Iowans Presented Medals by Truman
26 Others Receive Highest Awards
Washington, D.C. (U.P.) President Truman personally welcomed 28 American fighting men into the nation's hall of heroes Thursday in the largest mass ceremony of its kind.
[**Note: Beyer was born in St. Ansgar, Iowa]
T/4 Arthur O. Beyer, 36, Ogema, Minn, was an artilleryman by assignment but was fighting as an infantryman last Jan. 15 in Belgium when he stalked a string of German foxholes, killing eight Germans and capturing 18 others. He was a gunner of Co. C, 603rd tank destroyer battalion, 6th armored division
Source: The Des Moines Tribune, August 23, 1945
MOH Citation: Cpl. Arthur O. Beyer
Issue Date: 8/30/1945
He displayed conspicuous gallantry in action. His platoon, in which he was a tank-destroyer gunner, was held up by antitank, machinegun, and rifle fire from enemy troops dug in along a ridge about 200 yards to the front. Noting a machinegun position in this defense line, he fired upon it with his 76-mm. gun killing 1 man and silencing the weapon. He dismounted from his vehicle and, under direct enemy observation, crossed open ground to capture the 2 remaining members of the crew. Another machinegun, about 250 yards to the left, continued to fire on him. Through withering fire, he advanced on the position. Throwing a grenade into the emplacement, he killed 1 crewmember and again captured the 2 survivors. He was subjected to concentrated small-arms fire but, with great bravery, he worked his way a quarter mile along the ridge, attacking hostile soldiers in their foxholes with his carbine and grenades. When he had completed his self-imposed mission against powerful German forces, he had destroyed 2 machinegun positions, killed 8 of the enemy and captured 18 prisoners, including 2 bazooka teams. Cpl. Beyer's intrepid action and unflinching determination to close with and destroy the enemy eliminated the German defense line and enabled his task force to gain its objective.
Source: Congressional Medal of Honor Society website (photo included)
Beyond The Call of Duty
With the modest simplicity of true heroism, each of these six Upper Midwest winners of the Congressional Medal of Honor has written the dramatic story of the exploits which brought him America’s highest military honor. Tribune staff writer, Jay Edgerton, has edited each blazing story into a series of articles---“Beyond the Call of Duty”—which will appear exclusively in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune.
Source: The Minneapolis Star, February 8, 1949 (photo of Arthur O. Beyer included—however, his story did not appear in this issue)
Arthur Otto Wilhelm Beyer was born May 20, 1909 to Richard and Anna Louise Rachut Beyer. He died Feb. 17, 1965 and is buried in Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Saint Ansgar, IA.
Source: ancestry.com
