Memorial

Biography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_F._Carey_Jr.

More information

T/Sgt Charles F. Carey Jr. joined the Regular Army in 1937 in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Before dawn, the enemy unleashed a terrific barrage of artillery fire and attacked Sgt Carey’s battalion with an overwhelming force of infantry and tanks. Despite losing his heavy guns, Sgt Carey led a rescue of his men and evacuated his wounded. While under vicious enemy fire, he attacked a house and alone captured 16 prisoners. He later disabled an enemy tank and killed and wounded its crew. The next morning, he again fought off fanatic enemy forces to rescue his men. Sgt Carey’s heroic actions greatly helped his battalion withstand the German onslaught. Later that day in the snow-covered town, a German sniper rose up, took aim and shot and killed Sgt Carey. For these actions, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor six months later in July 1945.

His remains were found in an isolated grave in Rimling, together with the identifaction tags of a Pfc Edward F. Eggar. Therefore, he was initially buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery of Bensheim under that name. On 2 April 1945, Pfc Eggar returned to American control from a POW camp in Germany. He stated he lost his tags when he had taken them off in the house where he was together with T/Sgt Carey. Because they were surprised by a German attack, he didn't had the time to put them back on. As a result of this statement, the grave of T/Sgt Carey was marked as Unknown X-250.

He was disinterred and evacuated to St. Avold Cemetery, where his remains were marked as Unknown X-850 on 9 December 1947. In June 1948, he was again disinterred and evacuated to Ardennes Cemetery for identification. There he could be identified by comparison of his teeth with dental charts. He was given his final resting place on 10 May 1950.