Highest Military Honor Awarded to a Soldier From Pocahontas County

Highest Military Honor Awarded to a Soldier From Pocahontas County

Based on the provided excerpts from the Pocahontas Times, the highest military honor awarded to a soldier from Pocahontas County was the Silver Star, awarded to Staff Sergeant Ben M. Hiner of Durbin. The article announcing the award was published sometime between January and June of 1944.

The article states that Hiner, serving as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division, received the Silver Star for his actions while under "heavy enemy artillery fire and mortar fire" in Holland. The specific actions that merited the award are described as follows:

• Holding a Supply Dump Under Fire: Enemy fire forced Hiner to abandon his assigned position and move to a command post. Despite the danger, he "elected to remain and guard a valuable supply dump."
• Protecting Comrades from Snipers: When an enemy sniper approached the command post, Hiner took up a position in the attic of a nearby house and engaged the enemy.
• Saving Comrades From Capture: Hiner's accurate fire "held off the advancing Germans and saved the needed equipment from capture."

The Silver Star is the third-highest military combat decoration awarded to a member of the United States Armed Forces. It is awarded for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States. [Information about the Silver Star is not from the provided source material and may need to be independently verified.]

While other soldiers from Pocahontas County are mentioned as recipients of the Bronze Star, no other awards higher than the Silver Star are mentioned in the provided source material for soldiers from that county.