Silver Star/Purple Heart group (1Lt Scott Cole, 1st Cav Div, Korea)

Korean War Silver Star group to 1Lt Scott W. Cole, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division: Silver Star, slot brooch, machine-engraved “Scott W,/Cole”; Purple Heart, slot brooch, machine-engraved “Scott W. Cole”; Army Good Conduct Medal, slot brooch, unnamed; American Defense Service Medal; American Campaign Medal; Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal;; World War II Victory Medal; Army Occupation Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Korean Service Medal; Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Army; United Nations Korea Medal.

1st Cavalry Division General Orders No.9 (9 January 1951) awarded the Silver Star to Cole “for gallantry in action on 23 July 1950 at Yong-Dong, Korea. The positions of the 1st Battalion were attacked by three enemy tanks. The lead tank penetrated the lines, was destroyed by daisy chain mines which were pulled under the tank by a group of engineers, who were wounded by tank fire during the action. Seeing the predicament of the engineers, Lieutenant Cole left the comparative safety of his position and proceeded about 150 yards, under the fire of the second tank, to the assistance of the wounded men. With continued disregard for his own safety, he carried and pulled each of them to a covered position and remained with them until aid men relieved him…” This action took place the first day the 1st Cavalry Division was in combat in Korea.

Cole had served in the 119th Field Artillery during World War II. The 119th landed in France in late June 1944 and fought across France, Belgium and the Netherlands before ending the war in Germany. Commissioned after the war, Cole was serving with the 5th Cavalry Regiment when the Korean War broke out. The 5th Cavalry was on occupation duty in Japan when it was deployed to Korea. It faced its baptism of fire on 23 June 1950, the day Lt Cole earned the Silver Star. Cole, born in Detroit in 1919, died in Florida in 1998.