[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1665]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNITION OF WAYNE ALDERSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Today, we honor the memory of Private 
First Class Wayne Alderson of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, a World War II 
hero awarded the Combat Infantry Badge, Silver Star, Bronze Star, and 
Purple Heart for his courageous actions during the Rhineland Campaign 
of 1945. PFC Alderson died on February 22, 2013.
  At 86, Wayne was a member of our Greatest Generation and a great 
American. This son of southwestern Pennsylvania lived a life of purpose 
and sacrifice, and remains an inspiration to those who knew him.
  Born on June 7, 1926, Wayne Alderson entered the United States Army 
as an 18-year-old on August 31, 1944. His service would help bring 
Nazism to its knees, and PFC Alderson would become the first American 
soldier to advance into Germany across the forbidding, tank-protected 
Siegfried line on March 15, 1945.
  In the course of this assault, PFC Alderson, serving as a scout for B 
Company, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, would single-
handedly destroy two machine gun emplacements, attack pockets of German 
snipers, and fight house-to-house at night before capturing and taking 
three German prisoners. At considerable personal risk, he led the 
prisoners back to headquarters, where vital information was obtained by 
the Allies about the Siegfried line defenses.
  Then, on March 18, in Rieschweiler, Germany, the 18-year-old private 
would lead a new assault against enemy forces. His company pierced the 
German line but was cut off by enemy soldiers. Fearing the Germans were 
about to launch a counterattack that would wipe out his men, PFC 
Alderson and two other soldiers volunteered to lead a surprise assault 
and disappeared down a long zigzag spider trench behind a dense warren 
of fortifications.

                              {time}  1020

  The assault would ultimately help melt German defenses along the 
Siegfried line and leave PFC Alderson's face permanently scarred, 
carrying the shrapnel of a bitter, closed-quarters firefight. The small 
and vulnerable patrol engaged the larger German force in combat at 
point-blank range. PFC Alderson, fully exposed and vastly outnumbered, 
charged with his men, inflicting 12 casualties on the advancing enemy.
  With the Germans now in retreat, Wayne was seriously injured when a 
grenade exploded at his feet, blasting shrapnel and debris into his 
face. Wayne crashed face first into the mud from the blow. One of his 
fellow soldiers attempted to flip him over to prevent him from 
suffocating to death. A sniper took that soldier's life.
  The shooting over, PFC Alderson, suffering from a head wound, crawled 
back through the trenches to brief his company commander on the events 
that had just transpired. The company commander later surveyed the 
battle scene and determined the three men had killed at least 35 German 
soldiers.
  Wayne was discharged from service on October 6, 1945, with the rank 
of private first class.
  Wayne's leadership continued after the war. He helped resolve a 
conflict between labor and management at Pittron Steel, retold in the 
book ``Stronger than Steel,'' a dispute that threatened to shutter the 
company but instead saved jobs and changed Pittron's corporate culture.
  Fittingly, after this episode, Wayne went on to found a consulting 
firm called Value of the Person, which he ran for the last 40 years. 
Value of the Person grew out of Wayne Alderson's unique theory of 
management, stressing the importance of respect and responsibility 
between management and its workers--commonsense ideas that too often 
can become lost in the hum of modern life. These ideas became the basis 
of a book co-written with his daughter, ``Theory R Management,'' in 
1994.
  On May 20, 2007, I had the privilege of presenting Wayne Alderson, 
the hero of the Rhineland campaign, with the Silver Star when he was 
inducted into the veterans memorial Hall of Valor.
  PFC Alderson is survived by his wife, Nancy, of 60 years; sisters, 
Lillie Shannon and Jeanne Alderson of Canonsburg; daughter, Nancy 
McDonnell; and a grandson, Patrick Wayne McDonnell.
  Wayne Alderson always put his country first. Now it is time for PFC 
Alderson's country to recognize his bravery and place him among the 
first rank of those Americans who helped liberate Europe and beat back 
the twin scourges of fascism and Nazism. It is in this spirit that we 
recognize Wayne Alderson today.
  The way Wayne lived his life with continued selfless courage and 
determination gave Americans a true hero to mentor the next generation. 
Indeed, Wayne Alderson's influence will have a lasting impact on that 
next generation. And through that, he lives on.
  On behalf of a grateful Nation, we thank Wayne Alderson for his 
service and his life for his country.

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