rmoore456 Posted February 21, 2013 Share #1 Posted February 21, 2013 Picked up the DSC and Purple Heart of Omar T. Hitchner last night at an estate auction. I didn't know anything about the medals until I did a search and found a topic in the uniform section. We arrived at the auction late and found out later that the documents were sold with a carved wooden box before we got there. I am going to try to track down the documents as I understand the person that bought them was only interested in the box. I am not sure how the patches relate to him and I think the Chennault 3 one is some sort of fashion patch.1.Back of DSC and PH.2.ROTC medals both named to him.3.Backs of ROTC medals.4.Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin_Militaria Posted February 21, 2013 Share #2 Posted February 21, 2013 WOW! Incredible find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyhistorian01 Posted February 21, 2013 Share #3 Posted February 21, 2013 You may have already seen this in your search, but here is his citation from Korea in case you haven't The President of the United States of America, under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Major (Infantry) Omar T. Hitchner (ASN: 0-291851), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving as Commanding Officer of the 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment (Infantry), 1st Cavalry Division. Major Hitchner distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy aggressor forces near Singi, Korea, on 6 September 1950. While inspecting the battalion's forward position, Major Hitchner noticed that the enemy, having complete domination of terrain and observation, were rendering one section of his defense line untenable through a heavy barrage of well-directed fire. Realizing that in order to continue operations it would be necessary for the unit on his sector to shift position and regain fire superiority, with complete disregard for his own personal safety, he personally and unhesitatingly exposed himself to extremely heavy enemy fire in order to draw the attention of the enemy away from his pinned-down unit. To assure that their deployment could be fully accomplished, he remained in his exposed and vulnerable position until he was mortally wounded. Due to this outstanding courage and conspicuous devotion to duty at the supreme sacrifice of his own life, his battalion was able to continue forward to a successful completion of the mission. General Orders: Headquarters, Eighth U.S. Army, Korea: General Orders No. 18 (January 12, 1951) Action Date: 6-Sep-50 Service: Army Rank: Major Company: Commanding Officer Battalion: 2d Battalion Regiment: 7th Cavalry Regiment (Infantry) Division: 1st Cavalry Division I hope it helps. Nice addition to your collection to a real hero. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin_Militaria Posted February 21, 2013 Share #4 Posted February 21, 2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tabu-dong MAJ Omar T. Hitchner HQ 2-7th Cavalry KIA September 6, 1950 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dentino Posted February 21, 2013 Share #5 Posted February 21, 2013 Ray, these are some great finds...engraved DSC and PH at an estate sale pure good living reward I would say! And now for the complete research! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmoore456 Posted February 21, 2013 Author Share #6 Posted February 21, 2013 According to his Report of Internment his prior service was with the 1 Bn., 306th Inf. Regt., 77th Div. Also I found out his daughter lives here and his widow died here in 2004. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchbuff Posted February 21, 2013 Share #7 Posted February 21, 2013 Best of luck getting the documents back with the medals! Let us know will you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefighter Posted February 22, 2013 Share #8 Posted February 22, 2013 Excellent find.That is an incredible grouping. W W!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KySoldier Posted February 22, 2013 Share #9 Posted February 22, 2013 Great find !!! Beautiful medals !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY Militaria Posted February 22, 2013 Share #10 Posted February 22, 2013 Very good find! I too hope that you can get the documents back with this lot. Good luck! Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medalman90 Posted February 22, 2013 Share #11 Posted February 22, 2013 awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentley Posted February 23, 2013 Share #12 Posted February 23, 2013 Great group. Both the Korean War and the DSCs are underrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmoore456 Posted May 10, 2013 Author Share #13 Posted May 10, 2013 Per a request is a close up of the PH. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack's Son Posted May 11, 2013 Share #14 Posted May 11, 2013 Very nice set of medals and grouping. I have the same pair for a different soldier, and met up with his Granddaughter on the Korean War Memorial site......she had left a message some yours earlier. Give it a try, and good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Posted June 24, 2015 Share #15 Posted June 24, 2015 Great find! Congratulations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wlundy Posted May 8, 2022 Share #16 Posted May 8, 2022 I recently acquired the liner belonging to Hitchner and just wanted to share it to this thread so somewhere all of his belongings could be catalogued together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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