Maine
These 4 Medal of Honor recipients from Maine set themselves apart with their bravery
Greater than 100 Mainers have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the U.S. authorities’s highest honor for navy members. Of these Mainers, each has a tremendous story of bravery and valor, every vital to know and be impressed by.
These are the tales of 4 of these brave Mainers, who distinguished themselves on the battlefield for the sake of their fellow troopers and their nation — and in some instances made the last word sacrifice.
Andrew J. Tozier
Of the Mainers awarded Medals of Honor for his or her bravery through the Civil Battle, few have a post-war story that’s practically as exceptional because the story of their battlefield gallantry, however Andrew Tozier is one such particular person.
Born in Monmouth, Tozier escaped an abusive father to first change into a sailor. At age 23, not lengthy after the Civil Battle started, he enlisted within the 2nd Maine Infantry Regiment. He was injured and captured on the Battle of Gaines Mill in Virginia in 1862, however after being launched by Accomplice forces he joined Firm I of the twentieth Maine in 1863.
At Gettysburg, he was the colour bearer for his regiment, and on Little Spherical High he defended his fellow troopers alone, a feat of bravery for which, many years later, his commander, Brig. Gen. Joshua Chamberlain, beneficial he be awarded the Medal of Honor — and he was, in 1898, when he was 60.
After the warfare, Tozier spent practically 5 years as a felony, stealing cattle and different property in cities throughout Maine. He had a robust ally when he was lastly arrested: Chamberlain, who by then was Maine’s governor. Chamberlain pardoned Tozier, and invited him to reside at his home in an effort to get Tozier to wash up his act. Tozier spent the remainder of his life working as a fisherman, dairy farmer and manufacturing facility employee.
Tozier was portrayed by Maine actor Herb Mitchell within the film “Gettysburg,” and his story was informed within the music “Ballad of the twentieth Maine” by Maine band the Ghost of Paul Revere.
Edward Dahlgren, Caribou
Aroostook County native Edward Dahlgren lived most of his life quietly within the city of Blaine, working as a seed potato inspector for the state. However throughout World Battle II, he was personally liable for protecting an American platoon out of hazard throughout an enemy counterattack in Oberhoffen, France, and capturing about 40 German troopers through the skirmish on Feb. 11, 1945 — just some months earlier than the warfare resulted in Europe.
That motion earned him the Medal of Honor, introduced to him by President Harry S. Truman. When he was awarded it, he was the one dwelling Maine Medal of Honor winner after the Civil Battle. Lt. Dahlgren lived in Maine for the remainder of his life, and a corridor on the former Loring Air Drive Base was named for him, as was a avenue in Caribou. He died in 2006 at age 90.
Charles Loring, Portland
Few navy members serve in two wars — not to mention distinguish themselves in each the way in which Portland native Charles Loring did. Just a few years after graduating from Cheverus Excessive College, in 1942, Loring enlisted within the U.S. Military Air Drive and acquired coaching as a fighter pilot. He would spend the subsequent two years flying missions in each North America and, ultimately, on the European entrance. By December 1944, he’d flown 55 fight missions.
On Dec. 24, 1944, Loring was shot down in Belgium, and spent the subsequent six months as a Nazi prisoner of warfare. He was liberated three days earlier than the warfare in Europe ended on Might 8, 1945.
Loring’s actions that garnered him the Medal of Honor got here seven years later when, after years coaching different pilots, he returned to fight obligation in July 1952 as a jet fighter pilot through the Korean Battle. On Nov. 22 of that yr, whereas main a flight patrol close to the thirty eighth parallel, Loring noticed Chinese language artillery that was pinning down American floor troops close by. The Chinese language crews fired on Loring’s plane and broken it, however slightly than abort the mission, Loring turned off his radio and dive bombed the artillery, eliminating the menace. He died on impression, and his physique was by no means discovered.
On Might 9, 1954, Loring’s widow acquired the Medal of Honor from President Dwight Eisenhower. On the identical day, it was introduced that the newly constructed Air Drive base in Limestone could be named for him — Loring Air Drive Base, which operated till 1994.
Gary Gordon, Lincoln
Grasp Sgt. Gary Gordon, a local of Lincoln and graduate of Mattanawcook Academy, joined the Military straight out of highschool, ultimately becoming a member of the elite 1st Particular Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, or Delta Drive.
In 1993, he was posted as a part of a peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu, Somalia, and on Oct. 3 of that yr went in together with his fellow sniper Randy Shughart to guard the crews of two Black Hawk helicopters that had been shot down by Somali gunfire through the Battle of Mogadishu, made well-known by the guide and movie “Black Hawk Down.”
Through the battle, Gordon urged his superiors to let him get on the bottom to guard the crew of the downed helicopters from Somali troopers. Shughart and Gordon alone pulled the crew from the helicopters and defended their place till they ran out of ammunition. Each died defending their fellow troopers.
Gordon and Shughart have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the primary awardees for the reason that warfare in Vietnam. Gordon’s widow, Carmen, was introduced with the medal in 1994 by President Invoice Clinton, and in 1996, the USNS Gordon was named for him. Final yr, a statue of Gordon was unveiled in his hometown of Lincoln, and this yr, Maine lawmakers advocated for naming a Maine-built Navy destroyer after him.