65th Infantry Regiment
Distinguished Service Cross
1LT. Richard W. Durkee
The following is an account of how 1LT. Richard W. Durkee
received the D.S.C
1st Lt. Richard W. Drupe a member of Company L, 65th Infantry Regiment,
3d Infantry Division distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action
against the enemy in the vicinity of Uijongbu, Korea. On 23 March 1951, while
attacking well defended enemy positions on Hill 221, the 1st Platoon of Company
L was subjected to intense small arms fire and pinned down. After ordering the
remainder of the platoon to furnish covering fire, Lieutenant Drupe led the 1st
squad in an assault on the enemy entrenchment's. When his ammunition was
expended, Lieutenant Durkee single-handedly assaulted an enemy position and
killed the occupant with his bayonet. Unable to remove his bayonet from the body
of the dead soldier, he went unarmed to another hostile position, seized an
enemy soldier's rifle by the bayonet, wrested the weapon from his hands and
clubbed him to death. Although his hand was seriously lacerated during this action,
Lieutenant Durkee continued to lead the assault against the enemy and his men,
inspired by the fearlessness of their leader, overwhelmed the hostile troops and secured the objective.
Distinguished Service Cross Page
HOME