In September 2007 I wrote about the original stone with all the names of the troopers who were KIA during the Waal Crossing. It was taken to the U.S. Army base Heidelberg by the 101st NBC Verdedigingscompagnie van engineer detachment of the Royal Dutch Army and Johan van Asten, a resident of the village of Oosterhout (municipality of Nijmegen) in October 2007. There the stone remained for many months, awaiting transport to be taken to the 82nd Airborne Division War Memorial Museum in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
In October 2008, a year later, the stone arrived in Fort Bragg, where it will be displayed in the (near) future.
In 1999 Colonel (retired) Edward J. Sims send a request to president Clinton to upgrade Lieutenant Colonel (retired) James Megellas' Silver Star to a Medal of Honor. Lieutenant Megellas had originally been promised a MoH, but got a Silver Star eventually in March 1945 for his part in the capture of the town of Herresbach, Belgium. The campaign for the Medal of Honor is still lasting, but came closer on January 31, 2007, when Congressman Thomas Petri of Wisconsin introduced bill HR795 in the House of Representatives to request the President to award the Medal of Honor to Lieutenant Colonel Megellas. So far no action has been undertaken to award it.
But Megellas is not the only officer of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment who might receive a Medal of Honor after all. On April 7, 1945, 1st Lieutenant Bernard E. Karnap of Portsmouth, Ohio, distinguished himself when he led the majority of I Company at Hitdorf, Germany. Karnap was instrumental in linking up with the beleaguered A Company HQ and 1st Platoon forces in the central part of the town. He then led a force and fought his way to the encircled 2nd Platoon of A Company, which was thereby able to rejoin the remainder of A Company. I Company remained on the east side of the Rhine River until A Company was evacuated, less their 3rd Platoon which was still cut-off and captured the next day.
Lieutenant Karnap received a DSC for this action and stayed in the U.S. Army after the war. He died in the early 1960's. His family would like to upgrade his DSC for the Medal of Honor. So who knows, there might be three MoH's in the 504th PIR in the (near) future: PVT John Towle (C/504), 1LT James Megellas (H/504) and 1LT Bernard Karnap (I/504).
I'll keep you posted on this matter. On the "citations" page you read Karnap's medal citation. I will add Megellas' citation soon.
The original stone with all the names of the troopers who were KIA during the Waal Crossing, or on the subsequent day like PVT John Towle (C/504) and 1LT Robert Currier (A/504) will go to the 82nd Airborne Division War Memorial Museum in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Johan van Asten, a resident of the village of Oosterhout (municipality of Nijmegen) set up a large campaign to replace the original groundstone with a new one. He also preserved the original stone and contacted the museum in Fort Bragg to enquire whether they were interested in the original stone. Soon the stone will be flown to the USA. Johan has also made the municipality of Nijmegen aware of the importance of the Waal Crossing Monument and its preservation.
It is also due to Johan van Asten that a new city bridge which was planned on the place of the monument, was moved to a location further west of the monument. In addition, mayor Thomas de Graaf declared in an exclusive video message for the 61st convention of the 82nd US Airborne Division Association in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania last August that he wants to name the new bridge - "The Waal Crossing Bridge" in reference to the heroic operation in September 1944. The towncouncil however has to vote about his idea.
http://www2.nijmegen.nl/gemeente/burgemeester__wethouders/burgemeester/toespraken/overig/_rp_center1_elementId/1_514468
I will keep you updated on this matter.
Frank.
