Oak Ridge Today

ORNL retiree recalls 1944 hospital bombing in Belgium

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Ernest Shepherd

Ernest Shepherd

Ernest Shepherd attended the Veterans Day ceremony on Monday at Oak Ridge National Laboratory wearing a uniform similar to what he wore in 1944 when the hospital he was working in as a medic in Belgium was hit with a German bomb.

Shepherd—89 years old and an ORNL retiree who treated wounded from the D-Day invasion prior to moving on to Belgium—would earn the Purple Heart for his heroics in the aftermath of the bombing.

“It blew out all the windows in that whole building,” recalled Shepherd, who was on the second floor when the bomb crashed into the hospital and exploded about 300 feet from where he was located. “It killed 29 people. There were between 12 to 15 air personnel killed, and one major who I really liked got killed. I got wounded in the face with shrapnel or flying glass. That’s how I earned the Purple Heart.” [Read more…]

Guest column: State officials comment on death of Oak Ridge soldier

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Christopher Michael Ward

Christopher Michael Ward

Note: This is an edited copy of a Thursday announcement from the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Many-Bears Grinder regretfully announce the loss of Tennessee soldier Staff Sgt. Christopher Michael Ward of Oak Ridge.

Ward was fatally injured when his patrol was struck by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, which detonated on Saturday, April 6, in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Staff Sergeant Ward was serving with Troop A, 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, Fort Stewart, Ga.

The 24-year old soldier grew up in Arcadia, Fla. However, Ward moved to Tennessee with his mother, Joyce Ward, and attended Oak Ridge High School before earning his General Educational Development, or GED, diploma and enlisting in the United States Army in November 2006. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge soldier killed in Afghanistan receives Purple Heart, Bronze Star

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SSG Christopher Michael Ward

Christopher Michael Ward

The Oak Ridge soldier who was killed in Afghanistan one week ago received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal during his funeral Saturday, as well as a Tennessee Fallen Heroes Medal.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Michael Ward, 24, was killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan on April 6.

The medals were presented to his mother, Joyce Ward of Oak Ridge, during a funeral on Saturday at Weatherford Mortuary.

“On behalf of a grateful nation, thank you,” U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann told Joyce Ward.

[Read more…]

Anderson Veterans Officer presents long-overdue medal

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Information from WYSH Radio

On Monday morning, Anderson County Veterans Service Officer Leon Jaquet and other officials gathered in his office in the Courthouse to present a long-overdue Purple Heart to the widow of a soldier wounded during World War II.

Former U.S. Army rifleman Louis Allison was wounded in Germany in early 1945 but never received his Purple Heart. He passed away in 2003 at the age of 80. [Read more…]