Medal of Honor recipient and Grand Rapids, MI, native Private First Class Dirk Vlug, U.S. Army, singlehandedly destroyed five enemy tanks saving his squad members and helping to accomplish his battalion’s mission during the battle of Leyte, Philippines.
First Sergeant George Comstock, from Detroit, MI was awarded the nation’s second highest medal for bravery, the Distinguished Service Cross, in action in Kadish, Russia, during the Russian Revolution in 1918. Comstock disregarded his personal safety and ran 200 yards in advance of the front lines to guide back a man who had been blinded by shellfire. On two other occasions he went forward in advance of the front lines, exposing himself to heavy enemy fire, and returned with a wounded man.
|
|
Grand Rapids, MI native Duane Dewey received the Medal of Honor from President Dwight D. Eisenhower during a White House ceremony on March 12, 1953. Dewey received the honor for “His indomitable courage, outstanding initiative and valiant efforts in behalf of others in the face of almost certain death.” President Eisenhower, after reading the citation describing Dewey’s heroic actions, quipped that Dewey was be made of steel.
Colonel Michael Bloomfield, a Lake Fenton native, flew three space shuttle missions. Bloomfield piloted space shuttle Atlantis on STS-86 and space shuttle Endeavor on STS-97, and commanded space shuttle Atlantis on STS-110.
|