COLONEL HARRY J. SKERRY, United States Army. On January 16, Colonel Skerry, accompanied only by his driver, was inspecting the reconstruction of a bridge south of Moron and beyond the main line of resistance, when an enemy force opened fire with rifles and machine guns on a force of engineer troops nearby, forcing them to withdraw, Colonel Skerry and his driver hastened to position beyond the bridge and opened fire on the enemy’s flank. They maintained their fire unitl the arrival of patrols which drove back the hostile forces, whereupon this officer returned to the bridge site and reorganized the Engineer troops who subsequently completed the bridge. Again on January 22, Colonel Skerry displayed a high devotion to duty and disregard for the hazard represented by enemy snipers when he preceded a column of troops on the Bagac-Moron Road to assure that all land mines installed by the enemy that morning had been removed. He was fired on by hostile snipers, but with the timely arrival of a cavalry troop, the snipers were driven out. Returning to the mined area, he insured the safety of the troop column by re-checking on the removal of all land mines, dispatching a specimen mine for subsequent examination by ordnance experts.

COL Skerry was a veteran and survivor of the Battan Death March. He joined the Legion of Valor in 1971 as a life member, and resided in Oregon.