The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor

This afternoon, I completed The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor enrollment application for my great grand uncle, Charles Richard “Dick” Waits.  I enclosed three photographs, two letters, supporting documentation, and a short narrative with the application.  Here is the narrative I submitted on his behalf:

Charles Richard “Dick” Waits (4/27/1919-4/6/1945)

Charles Richard “Dick” Waits was born in Lancaster, Ohio, on 4/27/1919.  He was the only son of Harmon Clay “H.C.” Waits and Mellie Waits (Milligan).  Dick later attended Lancaster High School and enlisted with the United States Army on 12/9/1941 in Columbus, Ohio, two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  While on leave from training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Dick married Margaret Anne “Peggy” Phillips on 6/16/1942.

After returning to Fort Knox, Dick was eventually shipped overseas to fight in the European Theater of World War II with the 753rd Tank Battalion.  From his letters, it seems he had been in the war for quite some time and was very anxious to return home after all he’d been through.  He was killed by a shrapnel fragment wound to the head when his tank was shelled on 4/6/1945 near Kressbach, Germany in the Battle Between the Jagst and Kocher Rivers. 

At the time of his death, Dick was a corporal and tank gunner in Company C of the 753rd Tank Battalion.  He was buried in the United States Military Bensheim Cemetery in Germany on 4/13/1945.  He would later be reburied in the Lorraine American Cemetery in St. Avold, France, his final resting place, on 9/20/1945.

Brian M. Davis
12/4/2009

From their website: “The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor commemorates the extraordinary sacrifices of America’s servicemen and servicewomen who were killed or wounded in combat. The mission of the Hall of Honor is to collect and preserve the stories of Purple Heart recipients from all branches of service and across generations to ensure that all recipients are represented.”

Please send any information you have on a family member that was wounded or killed in combat, and I would be honored to submit it on their behalf.

Brian Davis – Christine Davis (Williams) – Ralph Scott Williams Jr. – Nellie Ruth Williams (Waits/sister of Charles Richard Waits)