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[GM Strong]

MEDAL OF HONOR WINNER. JOSE M. LOPEZ. Sergeant, U.S. Army, 23d Infantry, 2d Infantry Division. Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, 23d Infantry, 2d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Krinkelt, Belgium, 17 December 1944.

Sgt Lopez passed away in San Antonio aged 94 years.
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8th Army Korea 68-69

[baldeagle]

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 18, 2005

On Dec. 17, 1944, Mr. Lopez was a sergeant serving with the Second Infantry Division in Belgium when a superior force of German infantry and armor advanced on his company's position.

His Medal of Honor citation, issued in 1945, says that Mr. Lopez jumped into a shallow hole with his heavy machine gun and killed 10 German soldiers. In the face of enemy tank fire, the document says, he held his position and shot 25 more German infantrymen trying to get around his flank. He later took another position and continued firing to slow down enemy forces while members of his unit retreated.

The San Antonio Express-News reported that although his medal citation and most biographies list his birthplace as Mission, Tex., Mr. Lopez was actually born in Santiago Huitlan, Mexico. To join the merchant marine, the newspaper reported, he bought a false birth certificate in 1935.

Link for the rest
http://nytimes.com/2005/05/18/national/18lopez.html
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"In a word, I want an American character, that the powers of Europe may be convinced we act for ourselves and not for others; this, in my judgment, is the only way to be respected abroad and happy at home." --George Washington