Charles V. Ickes

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Charles V. Ickes, First Lieutenant (Infantry), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving with the Heavy Mortar Company, 5th Cavalry Regiment (Infantry), 1st Cavalry Division. First Lieutenant Ickes distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy aggressor forces near Waegwan, Korea, on 15 August 1950. When the enemy, with overwhelming numbers and firepower, attacked his platoon in an attempt to annihilate it and capture its mortars, Lieutenant Ickes exposed himself to intense enemy automatic weapons fire in order to establish a defense line. Moving from man to man, he assigned them to positions, distributed ammunition, and encouraged them in their assigned tasks. When one flank of the newly established defense line became pinned down and the operator of the machine-gun supporting it was killed, Lieutenant Ickes immediately manned the .50 caliber weapon and eliminated the enemy machine-gun crew. Although his platoon inflicted extremely high casualties on the enemy and halted their envelopment, withdrawal became necessary due to the sheer weight of the enemy’s numbers. During a lull in the battle, Lieutenant Ickes supervised the evacuation of dead and wounded and prepared his men and equipment for an orderly withdrawal. When the unit began to withdraw, he voluntarily elected to remain behind with an automatic rifle to cover their withdrawal. While engaged in this courageous action he was attacked by a banzai charge of approximately thirty enemy and single-handedly repelled the attack, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. By his inspiring leadership, tactical skill, and conspicuous devotion to duty, he enabled his platoon and its support weapons to be saved form a dangerous situation without undue loses.
Headquarters, Eighth U.S. Army, Korea: General Orders No. 204 (December 20, 1950)