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World War II Medal of Honor Recipient. A highly decorated soldier, he received the award on October 30, 1945 for his actions as a corporal in Company B, 358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, US Army at Heckhuscheid, Germany on February 1, 1945 during the latter days of World War II. Drafted into the US Army in January 1944, he was sent to the European Theater of Operations. February 1, 1945 found him in combat action in western Germany near Heckhuscheid for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor for valor above and beyond the call of duty. Following the end of the war, he remained in the US Army and in June 1951 he became a commissioned officer and served in the Korean War. He retired from the US Army in October 1962 at the rank of major with 18 years of continuous military service. He died at the age of 63. In addition to the Medal of honor, he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart (with 3 oak leaf clusters), the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal, among others. His Medal of Honor citation reads: " The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Corporal Edward Andrew Bennett, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty on 1 February 1945, while serving with Company B, 1st Battalion, 358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, in action at Heckhuscheid, Germany. Corporal Bennett was advancing with Company B across open ground to assault Heckhuscheid, Germany, just after dark when vicious enemy machinegun fire from a house on the outskirts of the town pinned down the group and caused several casualties. He began crawling to the edge of the field in an effort to flank the house, persisting in this maneuver even when the hostile machine gunners located him by the light of burning buildings and attempted to cut him down as he made for the protection of some trees. Reaching safety, he stealthily made his way by a circuitous route to the rear of the building occupied by the German gunners. With his trench knife he killed a sentry on guard there and then charged into the darkened house. In a furious hand-to-hand struggle he stormed about a single room which harbored seven Germans. Three he killed with rifle fire, another he clubbed to death with the butt of his gun, and the three others he dispatched with his .45 caliber pistol. The fearless initiative, stalwart combat ability, and outstanding gallantry of Corporal Bennett eliminated the enemy fire which was decimating his company's ranks and made it possible for the Americans to sweep all resistance from the town."
Description The European-Mediterranean-Middle East Theater was a major theater of operations during the Second World War (between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946). The vast size of Europe, Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected naval, land, and air campaigns fought for control of the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. The fighting in this theatre lasted from 10 June 1940, when Italy entered the war on the side of Germany, until 2 May 1945 when all Axis forces in Italy surrendered. However, fighting would continue in Greece – where British troops had been dispatched to aid the Greek government – during the early stages of the Greek Civil War.
The British referred to this theatre as the Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre (so called due to the location of the fighting and the name of the headquarters that controlled the initial fighting: Middle East Command) while the Americans called the theatre of operations the Mediterranean Theatre of War. The German official history of the fighting is dubbed 'The Mediterranean, South-East Europe, and North Africa 1939–1942'. Regardless of the size of the theatre, the various campaigns were not seen as neatly separated areas of operations but part of one vast theatre of war.
Fascist Italy aimed to carve out a new Roman Empire, while British forces aimed initially to retain the status quo. Italy launched various attacks around the Mediterranean, which were largely unsuccessful. With the introduction of German forces, Yugoslavia and Greece were overrun. Allied and Axis forces engaged in back and forth fighting across North Africa, with Axis interference in the Middle East causing fighting to spread there. With confidence high from early gains, German forces planned elaborate attacks to be launched to capture the Middle East and then to possibly attack the southern border of the Soviet Union. However, following three years of fighting, Axis forces were defeated in North Africa and their interference in the Middle East was halted. Allied forces then commenced an invasion of Southern Europe, resulting in the Italians switching sides and deposing Mussolini. A prolonged battle for Italy took place, and as the strategic situation changed in southeast Europe, British troops returned to Greece.
The theatre of war, the longest during the Second World War, resulted in the destruction of the Italian Empire and altered the strategic position of Germany resulting in numerous German divisions being deployed to Africa and Italy and total losses (including those captured upon final surrender) being over half a million. Italian losses, in the theatre, amount to around to 177,000 men with a further several hundred thousand captured during the process of the various campaigns. British losses amount to over 300,000 men killed, wounded, or captured, and total American losses in the region amounted to 130,000.
