SERGEANT FIRST CLASS ELDON J. ELTHON, United States Army. Sergeant Elthon, a member of an infantry company, distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against the enemy in the vicinity of Pau-gol, Korea. On the morning of 18 July 1953, Sergeant Elthon was a member of a platoon which was advancing to reinforce a besieged United Nations outpost. When his platoon leader was wounded, Sergeant Elthon immediately assumed command and directed the advance of the unit until it was halted by the combined fire of approximately fifteen enemy troops entrenched in a bunker. Unable to call in artillery because of lack of communications and unwilling to risk the lives of his men by bringing them into the direct line of fire, Sergeant Elthon advanced on the enemy position alone. Completely ignoring the intense small-arms and mortar barrage, Sergeant Elthon crawled to the top of the bunker and threw hand grenades into the aperture. Sergeant Elthon then braved the bombardment and crawled back to his men to supervise the evacuation of the wounded and redeploy his platoon. Again recrossing the exposed area, he continued to throw hand grenades in the bunker. Sergeant Elthon’s fearless actions were responsible for the death of several enemy. In addition, he forced the remainder of the enemy troops to leave the bunker and surrender, enabling his platoon to continue in its vital mission. The extraordinary heroism exhibited by Sergeant Elthon on this occasion reflects great credit on himself and is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.

Mr. Elthon joined the L.O.V. in 1989 and resides in Minnesota.