Artie Klein.

This is coolbert:

I think it is undeniable that there have been instances where the awarding of the Medal of Honor can be looked upon with a degree of skepticism. Such is the case, as has been mentioned in another blog entry, of the awarding of the Medal to Mac Arthur and Wainwright. Surely politics paid a major role here.

It is also undeniable that there have been instances where the Medal of Honor was NOT awarded where it should have been. A soldier that exhibited the greatest heroism on the battlefield, and was recognized by his peers at that exact moment as having done so.

Such a person would be "Omak, The One Man Army". Omak, [real name Artie Klein], distinguished himself during the landing and invasion of the Japanese held island of Eniwetok, in the South Pacific. Such was the bravery of Klein during the attack upon Eniwetok, that Klein's exploits were written about in length by the Yank magazine, a military journal of the time. In the article, Klein is referred to, for security reasons, as Omak.

What was it exactly that Klein did that surely merited the awarding of the Medal of Honor?? According to the author Harry A. Gailey, who personally confirmed the exploits of Klein on Eniwetok:

"The hardest fighting, however, was in front of Company B, which had the task of securing the left flank of the westward advance. Here an unlikely hero emerged. 1st Lt. Artie Klein, a professional enlisted man who had been forced to accept a commission [forced??!!], was weapons platoon commander of B Company. Landing in a trailing wave, he quickly took charge of the green, scattered troops along the beach. He reformed platoons and companies from one end of the beach to the other and led them in counterattacks against the major Japanese positions. Klein had become the de facto commander of the 1st Battalion. He was instrumental in stopping the first major counterattack launched by over 300 Japanese just after noon along the front of the 1st Battalion. Klein is singled out from the rest of the junior officers and men not only because of his heroic actions, which might well have saved the 1st Battalion from a very bad beating, but because of the way his actions were later recognized. Called Omak, The One Man Army by Yank magazine, he was recognized by the historian of the 27th Division as the bravest man he had ever met and the most important on Eniwetok that first day. Artie Klein received the Bronze Star for his exploits, despite the fact that Colonel Cornett later collected fifty-two affidavits from the men that served under Klein and subsequently recommended Klein for the Medal of Honor."

Klein was awarded the Bronze Star, and evidently did not make a squawk about being NOT awarded a higher decoration. Persons at Eniwetok, senior commanders, who DID NOT see combat as Klein did, WERE awarded medals beyond that of the Bronze Star.

That Omak did NOT make a fuss regarding the decoration he was awarded was in keeping with Klein having been a professional enlisted man prior to being commissioned. Klein knew full well how the military works and how decisions are made that on many occasions are arbitrary, capricious, and unfair. As it was in this case!

Without men such as Klein, who go about their jobs without fuss or any ado, battles cannot be won. To such persons as Artie Klein the desire to do the job well, takes precedence over the winning of medals.

coolbert.