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Belleville Native To Receive Medal of Honor

Private First Class Henry Svehla, who died in 1952, will posthumously receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. His nephew, Anthony Svehla started the 10-year process to get the honor.

On a bullet-strewn outpost called Pork Chop Hill, Private First Class Henry Svehla made the ultimate sacrifice.

While battling opposing Chinese soldiers during the Korean War, Svehla, a 19-year-old Belleville native, charged headlong into enemy positions while firing his weapon and killing the enemy.

Later when a grenade from the Chinese side was thrown among his fellow soldiers, Svehla, without thinking, threw himself on the explosive and died,  saving numerous lives.

 Svehla will be finally honored for that long-ago sacrifice on June 12, 1952 omn Monday, when his family accepts the Congressional Medal of Honor on his behalf during a ceremony in the White House. Svehla, who served as a rifleman in the 7th Infantry Division, will also have his name inscribed in Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes the next day.

“It’s a great feeling. The family is very proud,” said Anthony Svehla, the soldier’s 49-year-old nephew who is also a Belleville resident.

It has been a long time coming - 58 years after the death of Private First Class Henry Svehla and 10 years after his family started the process of getting the soldier recognized for his bravery.

Anthony Svehla said he knew about his uncle’s exploits growing up. There was even a comic book written about his uncle’s act of bravery, he said.

Svehla said he started the process a decade ago when the Internet opened up research opportunities and he learned that his Uncle Henry -- also remembered by his nickname, "Squeaky" -- deserved the medal.

“I found Medal of Honor winners that did the exact thing my uncle did,” he said.

So Svehla contacted his congressman, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8), for help. Pascrell assigned Celia Anderson, his constituent services representative, to help Svehla.

This started a three-year campaign of researching files and getting information from the Library of Congress, he said.

Anderson collected maps and commanding officers’ “morning reports” – accounts of what happened on the day of the battle --  according to a press release from Pascrell’s office. “There were also numerous phone calls and letters written to U.S. Army officials.”

Svehla said the search for files was hampered by a 1973 fire at a military record center in St. Louis, Mo. where “approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files” were destroyed, according to the website of the National Archives. His uncle was one of those affected by the loss.

But Svehla said they carried on and then waited seven more years for the Army to respond to their request for the medal. He also hoped that his uncle’s surviving brother, John, would live to see that day.

“I wanted him, Uncle John, to get the medal,” said Anthony Svehla.

But Uncle John, who had cancer, died last year in August at the age of 81, Svehla said.

Finally, the call came in this year in February that it was approved, Svehla said.

“I couldn’t believe it, I had chills go through my body, tears in my eyes. It was unbelievable because it got done. But bittersweet because Uncle John couldn’t be there,” Svehla said.

A grateful Svehla credits Pascrell, whom he said should run for President, and most of all, Anderson.

“To get that out of a politician - that was amazing,” he said about Pascrell. “And we couldn’t have done it without her (Anderson).”

“This is, at once, a joyous and a solemn occasion,” Pascrell said in a statement. “There is joy that Private Svehla will receive the nation’s highest honor, and that his family will receive the gratitude of a nation indebted to him for his ultimate and permanent sacrifice. But we can’t help but be solemn when we reflect on the magnitude of Private Svehla’s heroism.  He saved the lives of those who fought with him on that battlefield in Korea. But, in a way, he saved all of our lives as Americans.”

About 34 members of the Svehla family will be at the White House for the ceremony, including the deceased soldier’s two surviving sisters, Dorothy Matthews and Sylvia Svehla, said Anthony Svehla.

“Private Svehla was so young when he passed, and it has always been clear that his family cares so much for him even after so many years. We all do,” said Anderson in a statement. “He gave his life for his country, and it’s wonderful that the U.S. Army is finally giving the Private Svehla the honor he deserves.” 

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