[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 123 (Wednesday, August 24, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       THE BRAVERY OF WALTER ARP

 Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, we recently celebrated the 50th 
anniversary of the landing at Normandy, and I heard a lot of stories of 
bravery by the soldiers there.
  Not too long ago, I received a letter from an individual in Ohio who 
had recalled another act of bravery. Coleman J. Magrish, of Cincinnati, 
OH, related an account of the courage of Walter Arp. Walter, who is in 
his eighties now, lives in Ronan, MT.
  To call attention to Walter's actions, I would like to enter Colonel 
Magrish's letter into the Record.

   Sgt. Walter H. Arp--Heroic Action on or About June 10, 1945, Near 
                           Cherbourg, France

       Sgt. Arp rescued a badly wounded American soldier who had 
     stepped on a land mine. He did this by crossing over a barged 
     wire fence into a mined area in order to carry a wounded 
     soldier to safety. Although Sgt. Arp had survived 8 months of 
     combat while in service with the 14th Armored Division, and 
     was in transit to the continental United States, he 
     selflessly conducted the rescue.
       Sgt. Arp and I were at a troop staging area called Camp 
     Lucky Strike, near the port of Cherbourg, awaiting shipment 
     back home. To relieve the boredom, we were walking along the 
     coastal road outside of Camp Lucky Strike. To our left were 
     obviously fortified areas extending from the coastal road 
     down to the beaches and the sea. Walter and I saw a well-worn 
     path to a concrete gun emplacement that, based on our combat 
     experience, looked safe. We went down the path toward the sea 
     so we could get a better view of the fortified landing beach.
       While we were there, a group of new Infantry replacements 
     arrived to look around. (Even though the war was over, 
     replacements were still being shipped to Europe.) Walter and 
     I returned to the coast road. Suddenly, we both heard the 
     obvious thump of what had to be an exploding land mine. We 
     ran back over the path to the gun emplacement and saw one 
     wounded replacement soldier coming out of the mined area.
       He said that his companions were badly wounded and could 
     not move. They were not visible from our vantage point. I was 
     able to commandeer a U.S. Army truck that was passing and go 
     back to the camp for assistance with mine detectors and 
     medics. I sounded the alarm and a large rescue force was 
     mobilized. On returning to the scene, I saw the second 
     replacement on the ground badly wounded where he was being 
     attended by a medic. The third member of their group was 
     fatally wounded.
       I found Walter, and while questioning him about what had 
     happened, noted that the back of his fatigue jacket was 
     soaked with blood. I asked him what happened to him. He 
     nonchalantly said that the second man had only been able to 
     make it to about 50 feet from the safe area, so Walter walked 
     into the mine field and picked the man up, piggyback fashion, 
     and brought him out of the fortified mine field.
       This was a remarkable and heroic achievement in itself and 
     even more so when you realize that Sgt. Arp was about 38 
     years old (this was considered old for combat units) at the 
     time and was going home to see his son, who had been born 
     while we were overseas. He also had enough discharge points 
     for release from the Army upon arrival in the United States. 
     In spite of all these factors he risked his life (after 
     surviving all those months of combat) to save the 
     replacement's life.
       Since the area was a transient facility, there were no 
     means to report his heroic deed. * * * I was the only one who 
     knew what happened, but in the confusion of being trained for 
     the invasion of Japan, my subsequent discharge, and starting 
     college, his heroic act was forgotten. * * * It seems like 
     the 50th anniversary of D-Day is an appropriate time to honor 
     Walter H. Arp.
                                    C.J. Magrish, Col. USAF (Ret.)

  I agree. I salute Walter Arp and I salute his bravery, for his 
selfless actions five decades ago deserve recognition.

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