T/5 Paul Steele 63rd ID Uniform, involved in actions for a Medal of Honor

[36thIDAlex]

Hey y’all! Got a great new piece in right after Christmas to help fill my 63rd Infantry division gap in the collection from a gentleman who was involved in an action which earned the 63rd one of its two Medals of Honor!

 

Paul Leroy Steele originally lived with his brother and parents in his home of Oakland, California. At a young age, however, tragedy struck and both the boys were left orphaned and in the care of the US foster system. In a change of scenery, the two ended up transferring to an orphanage in Flint, Michigan where they grew up amongst many other young ones who had suffered the same isolating fate. Thankfully Paul was adopted in the late 1930s and moved in with his new family in the small township of Waterford where he lived until the war. In 1943 he was drafted into the Army and sent to join the newly created 63rd Infantry Division at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi.

 

Once with the division Paul received his assignment as a rifleman with A Company of the 253rd Infantry Regiment. The division spent about about a year in training before the army finally sent them overseas as a replacement division in December of 1944. Interestingly, the regiments of the division first fought independently attached to more veteran units, for Paul and the 253rd it was the 44th ID, before finally coming together as a cohesive fighting unit in February of 1945. The division quickly got its act together and became a notable fighting force, crossing the Saar river in February and smashing through the Siegfried line the next month. Between the dates of the 4-12 April, however, the 253rd IR met its match in the form of the German 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division. Together with the first battalion of the 398th IR, 100th ID the two units engaged in a pitched battle over the towns of Buchof and Stein am Kocher. The objective was to capture the Kocher River and establish a bridgehead for a wider crossing, however, the 17th SS was given strict orders to hold the ground by any means possible. With machine gun and mortar nests behind every hill and treeline, the 253rd had it rough and many of the infantry companies became separated in the struggle. Paul and A Company found themselves in the northern part of the area stuck with C Company separated from the rest of the battalion by SS troops. A Company eventually made it right outside the furthest objective, the town of Kressbach, before having to hunker down and prepare for a German counterattack. The assault came on April 6th and the fight was furious. With SS armor, artillery and panzergrenadiers leading the attack on the American troops, A Company had no choice but to hold as long as they could before a hasty retreat was beaten. In the eight hours of hard fighting over open terrain near the town A Company lost its commanding officer and the majority of its enlisted men, leaving only Paul and 22 other riflemen standing uninjured. The survivors were rallied by a forward observer attached to the company, Lt James Robinson, and attempted a final charge against the objective which they miraculously managed to capture before artillery shrapnel hit Robinson in the throat and left him mortally wounded. Robinson continued to lead Paul and the others until he could no longer speak, making sure the objective was secure and the survivors were alright before he began a two-mile walk back to an aid station where he died of his wounds. For his actions in leading the survivors of A Company, Lieutenant Robinson was awarded our nation’s highest honor.

 

Paul appears to have been one of only 20 men from the company still in the company to not get hit that entire day and continued with the unit until the end of the war helping to pave the infamous trail of “blood and fire” into the German heartland which ended at the city of Landsberg. He served a little bit of time during occupation but was able to go home and settle in Orchard Lake, Michigan. He worked many years as a telephone company repairman before moving to Florida where he passed away in 1999.

 

This uniform was part of a recent clearing by a Michigan military museum and all funds went towards supporting the museum’s efforts. The uniform is named to Steele inside but what thankfully helped to solidly ID it was a immunization card with his full name and serial number inside the pocket. I was able to reach out to the family and learn a little bit more about him and his time in the army and hopefully can get a good photograph of him soon. The uniform is pretty solid in its own right with plastic ribbons, divisional DUIs, and a swing-back Combat Infantry Badge. In all, a good one to have represent the 63rd in my quest for the ETO infantry divisions!

 

Below I have also included the official citation for Robinson’s actions

 

“He was a field artillery forward observer attached to Company A, 253d Infantry, near Untergriesheim, Germany, on 6 April 1945. Eight hours of desperate fighting over open terrain swept by German machinegun, mortar, and small-arms fire had decimated Company A, robbing it of its commanding officer and most of its key enlisted personnel when 1st Lt. Robinson rallied the 23 remaining uninjured riflemen and a few walking wounded, and, while carrying his heavy radio for communication with American batteries, led them through intense fire in a charge against the objective. Ten German infantrymen in foxholes threatened to stop the assault, but the gallant leader killed them all at point-blank range with rifle and pistol fire and then pressed on with his men to sweep the area of all resistance. Soon afterward he was ordered to seize the defended town of Kressbach. He went to each of the 19 exhausted survivors with cheering words, instilling in them courage and fortitude, before leading the little band forward once more. In the advance he was seriously wounded in the throat by a shell fragment, but, despite great pain and loss of blood, he refused medical attention and continued the attack, directing supporting artillery fire even though he was mortally wounded. Only after the town had been taken and he could no longer speak did he leave the command he had inspired in victory and walk nearly 2 miles to an aid station where he died from his wound. By his intrepid leadership 1st Lt. Robinson was directly responsible for Company A's accomplishing its mission against tremendous odds.”

 

[BILL THE PATCH]

Really nice write-up, what a great uniform love those DUIs. He might have lived if that aid station was closer. Imagine walking two miles with that awful wound, probably loss of blood.

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[36thIDAlex]

6 hours ago, BILL THE PATCH said:

Really nice write-up, what a great uniform love those DUIs. He might have lived if that aid station was closer. Imagine walking two miles with that awful wound, probably loss of blood.

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Thanks Bill! It's a pretty solid one that I am happy to have represent the division, now my second high-number division using divisional DUIs rather than regiment. The story of Robinson is pretty inspiring and I can't imagine what it was like to follow him into Kressbach under all those conditions. 

[dmar836]

Very cool! Are the insignia and ribbons all original to it? Did the family mention donating the uniform to the museum? Did you mention you acquired it? Hopefully they weren't upset if it came up.

I would have to ask to confirm if they had included the insignia or anything else of his.

Great pickup!

Dave

[36thIDAlex]

Very cool! Are the insignia and ribbons all original to it? Did the family mention donating the uniform to the museum? Did you mention you acquired it? Hopefully they weren't upset if it came up.
I would have to ask to confirm if they had included the insignia or anything else of his.
Great pickup!
Dave

All the insignia and ribbons are original to the jacket, according to them they sold it to a collector who then donated his collection a long while ago.

[dmar836]

Great!