Edward M. Peterson
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Edward M. Peterson entered the Army on March 19, 1943, at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Home at entry: Duluth, Minnesota.
He served as a Staff Sergeant and radio repairman with the 75th Division, 898th Field Artillery Battalion in Central Europe, Rhineland, and Ardennes. Attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and infantry communications school at Fort Benning, Georgia. Shipped overseas aboard the H.M.S. Aquitania and landed in Scotland and Camp Heath in Cardiff, Wales.
Participated in combat in the Battle of the Ardennes Forest in Belgium (Battle of the Bulge), battle of Colmar Pocket in Southern France, and the Rhine River Crossing and the battle for the Ruhr River in Germany. Sailed home aboard the S.S. Marine Panther with a lot fewer of his fellow soldiers. Served on hospital trains transporting wounded soldiers from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to hospitals nearer the patient's home in the Midwest.
He was awarded the following: Bronze Star Medal, Good Conduct Medal, American Theater Service Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal.
Mr. Peterson was honorably discharged on December 7, 1945, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Citation for Bronze Star:..for meritorious service in connection with military operations against the enemy from 24 December 1944 to 6 April 1945, in Belgium, France, Holland and Germany. As a radio repairman, Technician Peterson made possible the supporting artillery fire given our Infantrymen by his conscientious maintenance of the occasions when he had to improvise radio parts to facilitate complex repair jobs. Technician Peterson's accuracy and speed in accomplishing intricate repairs under the stress of battle conditions is deserving of high commendation.
Source: Hometown Heroes: The Saint Louis County World War II Project, 364.