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| Fred Messing was with the 50th Combat
Engineers on Attu in May of 1943. He was a 1st
Lieutenant at the time. Fred helped stop a Banzai
attack of up to 600 Japanese soldiers on Engineer
Hill. He was awarded the Purple Heart as a result of
wounds received in the left arm by rifle fire. He
later received a Bronze Star with "V" for that action.
In March of 2000, then Lt. Colonel Messing, USA
(Ret.), was receiving a physical exam at Bethesda
Navel Medical Center from Cmdr. Marlene DeMaio, USNR
(the Ortho there) and it was revealed through X-Rays
that he had also taken shrapnel in his right thigh
from grenades thrown onto the bulldozer he and his
fellow Engineers were fighting from. Later, on 22 May
2000, his son, Major Andy Messing, visited the actual
battle site on Attu, and took dirt from that site for
placement in now Colonel Messing's grave at Arlington
Cemetery on 21 November 2000...where he was interred
in a full Military Honors burial, along with his wife
of 59 years, Anne. These pictures were sent to us by Major Messing, and are from his dad's collection. Thank you Andy for sharing these. |
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#1. The aftermath of the Battle for Engineer Hill. |
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#2. This battle sealed the fate of the Japanese Army on Attu. It was their last stand. |
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#3. Trenches were dug for the mass burials that followed. |
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#4. Fred Messing standing on the right holding on to a knife that later saved his son's life in Vietnam. |
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#5. The Battle for Engineer Hill was over. |
Last Updated: 02 Jun 2006 10:55