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George DeLost Jr. received the Silver Star
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George DeLost poses for a portrait in his room at Greenbriar Healthcare Center in Boardman. DeLost has recently been selected for the Military Hall of Fame for Valor in WWII.
STRUTHERS
World War II Army veteran George DeLost Jr. has a long list of military decorations, including the Silver Star and the Legion of Honor (Knight Degree), France’s highest medal for valor.
The Legion of Honor is a decoration he shares with Audie Murphy, one of the United States’ most decorated combat soldiers of WWII.
Still, DeLost, 91, doesn’t think of himself as heroic.
“There aren’t any heroes. You did what you had to do. You react to the situation and your training kicks in. Most of the time you were just trying to save your butt. It was fight or die,” he said of combat action his unit, the 35th Division’s 320th Infantry Regiment, Co. F, saw in five major campaigns to liberate Europe.
But, DeLost of Struthers, a retired Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. boilermaker, may be the only one who doesn’t think his actions were anything but courageous and heroic.
The latest recognition to come his way is induction into the 2013 Class of the Ohio Military Hall of Fame for Valor on May 3 at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. DeLost, who is not expected to attend the ceremony, will be represented by his son, Atty. Raymond DeLost and Raymond’s wife, Maria, of Struthers. The Ohio Military Hall of Fame honors Ohio veterans who received medals for valor while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
“He doesn’t think this is a big deal. He thinks what he did is what you were supposed to do. If you survived and came home and got your job and seniority back, you were rewarded,” said Atty. DeLost, who said he is very proud of his father.
The Legion of Honor, which DeLost was presented in December 2010 at a Struthers City Council meeting, was recognition of his role in liberating France.
The Silver Star, the third- highest U.S. combat-only award, was bestowed on him for meritorious actions on Nov. 8, 1944, at the Foret de Gremecey battle in France.
His Silver Star citation reads, in part: “First Sgt. George DeLost Jr., [at the time of the action he was a technical sergeant] ... courageously led the weapons platoon of his unit forward until the attack was halted by heavy enemy machine gun and shell fire.
“He moved forward along across open terrain and beyond a ridge ... to locate enemy guns which were causing casualties among his troops. He reported the location of the enemy to a forward artillery observer, enabling accurate artillery fire to be directed against the enemy guns and permitting his unit to advance.
“Sergeant DeLost’s gallant actions reflect credit upon his character as a soldier, his unit and the service,” the citation concluded.
Describing the situation, DeLost said his unit had attacked into an opening a couple of football fields wide between two wooded areas just after daybreak, but by noon were pinned down by German gunfire and could not move forward or withdraw.
“I just did what I was trained to do. I was lucky,” DeLost said of his actions saving his unit from further casualties.
After leaving Struthers High School to work at Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co., he was drafted into the Army in 1942 at 20.
“There were 10 of us in the family. When you were old enough, you went to work to help support the family,” DeLost said.
After he was discharged from the Army in September 1945, he came home and married his fiancee, the former Mary Aracich, went back to the mill, and raised three sons, Atty. Raymond, Thomas and Gary, all of Struthers. They have two grandchildren.
During those three years in Europe, which he described as continuous war, he participated in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Central Europe and Ardennes campaigns.
He landed on Normandy about a week after the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion. He said the fighting was intense, and described the battle to liberate St. Lo, France, as the worst in the war for him.
“It took a month to go eight miles. What we gained one day, we lost the next,” he said.
A short time after the Battle of St. Lo ended on July 18, 1944, his platoon leader became a casualty and DeLost, then a sergeant, took over the platoon for a month. For his actions, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Valor.
Other decorations include the French Croix de Guerre Medal; European, African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon; five Bronze Stars, one each for the campaigns in which he participated; and a Good Conduct Ribbon. He also was awarded a Purple Heart, but documentation for it has been lost.
From a perspective of 67 years removed from the war, DeLost said he sometimes wonders if it was worth it.
“What’s a little discouraging for me is that before we went to France, we were told we were going to fight the ‘war to end all wars.’ I’ve been home 67 years and I don’t remember a day since that we weren’t at war. We didn’t end war,” he said.
Still, DeLost remembers the war experience and the men he fought beside with pride.
“One thing about the infantry; everybody was close. You shared the same experiences. It was one big family,” he said.
He also noted how he got promoted so rapidly — from private to first sergeant in three years. “People in front of me kept getting wounded or killed,” he said.
“I wouldn’t take a million dollars for the experiences I had, but I wouldn’t want to relive them either,” he said.