MAJOR GAIL H. BELMONT, (then Staff Sergeant) with the 2nd Ranger Battalion on June 7, 1944, at au Guay, France, he was with forward elements and became trapped by enemy machine-gun fire on both flanks and to the front. Staff Sergeant Belmont picked up an abandoned enemy machine gun and opened fire. Although his position was exposed to and only 50 yards from the enemy, he succeeded in drawing enemy fire upon himself allowing his troops to advance. He was wounded and evacuated to the beach. On the way back, he captured two enemy soldiers. Major Belmont returned to duty and fought through the rest of the war ending in Asch, Czechoslovakia on the day Germany surrendered.

Major Belmont had been a member since 1945, and was a Life Member.