Forrest E. Peden

Brought tanks to the relief of an ambushed unit

Forrest E. Peden was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, on 3 October 1918. He served as a technician fifth grade in Battery C, 10th Field Artillery Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division during World War II.

Near Biesheim, France, on 3 February 1945, Peden was a forward observer with infantrymen caught in an ambush. He gave first aid to two wounded soldiers. With radio communications disabled, he ran eight hundred yards under fire to the battalion command post and secured two light tanks.

Peden rode exposed on the lead tank to guide it to the trapped men. A direct hit destroyed the tank and killed him. The burning vehicle drew reinforcements to the position, enabling them to drive off the enemy.

His daughter received his posthumous Medal of Honor at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on 1 March 1946. Peden is buried in Mount Olive Cemetery in Troy, Kansas. His citation honors his effort to obtain help for the ambushed soldiers.

Medal of Honor citation

He was a forward artillery observer when the group of about 45 infantrymen with whom he was advancing was ambushed in the uncertain light of a waning moon. Enemy forces outnumbering the Americans by four to one poured withering artillery, mortar, machine-gun, and small-arms fire into the stricken unit from the flanks, forcing our men to seek the cover of a ditch which they found already occupied by enemy foot troops. As the opposing infantrymen struggled in hand-to-hand combat, Technician Peden courageously went to the assistance of two wounded soldiers and rendered first aid under heavy fire. With radio cummunications inoperative, he realized that the unit would be wiped out unless help could be secured from the rear. On his own initiative, he ran 800 yards to the battalion command post through a hail of bullets which pierced his jacket, and there secured two light tanks to go to the relief of his hard-pressed comrades. Knowing the terrible risk involved, he climbed upon the hull of the lead tank and guided it into battle. Through a murderous concentration of fire the tank lumbered onward, bullets and shell fragments ricocheting from its steel armor within inches of the completely exposed rider, until it reached the ditch. As it was about to go into action it was turned into a flaming pyre by a direct hit which killed Technican Peden. However, his intrepidity and gallant sacrifice was not in vain. Attracted by the light from the burning tank, reinforcements found the beleaguered Americans and drove off the enemy.