2nd Lt. Paul F. Riordan, Medal of Honor, 1944

RIORDAN

Posted By: S. Ferrall - IAGenWeb volunteer
Date: 12/12/2014 at 17:19:29

Medal Awarded to Iowa Native - Slain Trying to Capture Jail in Cassino

Washington, D.C. - Second Lieut. Paul F. Riordan, Inf., a native of Charles City, Ia., has been awarded the congressional medal of honor, posthumously, for heroism at Cassino, Italy, the war department announced Friday.

Riordan, 23, constantly exposing himself to enemy fire, led his platoon in an attack on a hill outside Cassino last February 3. Spotting a pill box which was firing on his men, Riordan, ignoring the bullets, moved in close enough to toss a grenade. He silenced the pill box, killing one and wounding two Germans. The platoon then took out three other boxes and the company captured the hill.

Five days later, with allied forces in the city, Riordan and his men were given the job of taking the Cassino jail which the Germans had converted into a fortress. Intense fire from the building pinned down the platoon, but Riordan succeeded in reaching the building. Although he had no one with him, he entered the jail, shooting as he went. He disposed of several of the garrison, but was killed by small arms fire.

The medal will be given to his father, Herbert F. Riordan, at his home in Kansas City, Mo., by Brig. Gen. William A. Campbell, assistant commandant of Fort Leavenworth, at a ceremony on Saturday

~Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, Sunday morning edition, Sept. 24, 1944

Note: His obituary & picture, and photos of his gravestone in Mt. Olivet cemetery, Raytown, Jackson county, MO are on Find-A-Grave at the link below:

Paul Riordan picture, obit & gravestone
 

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