Logan E. Weston
Logan E. Weston |
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Logan Ernest Weston (January 5, 1914 – May 5, 2003)[1] was a United States Army Colonel, Medal of Honor nominee, and inductee into the Ranger Hall of Fame[2] who fought in the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. After leaving the front lines, Weston was influential in the development of modern Army Ranger tactics.
Biography
Born as one of five children in a Protestant family in Ohio, Weston enrolled into the Transylvania Bible School in 1939 at the age of 25 in the hopes of becoming a preacher. Two years later, he was conscripted into the United States Army and joined the 145th Regiment of the 37th Infantry Division at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Shortly after the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Weston's unit was shipped out to the Fijian Islands as part of the US Military's island hopping strategy. During this campaign, Weston received a field commission to the rank of Second lieutenant.
After many successful battles against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Pacific Islands, Weston volunteered to join Merrill's Marauders in their campaign against Japanese forces in India and Burma. By the end of the campaign Weston's platoon had fought 18 battles, experienced a total of four men killed and five wounded, and were estimated to have killed over twelve hundred and sixty enemy soldiers, acting as a crucial part of the Burma campaign.
After the conclusion of World War II, Weston returned to the United States, where he temporarily left the military, became a pastor at a Methodist church, and got married. With the hopes of becoming a chaplain, Weston rejoined active duty, but was rejected from the Chaplain Corps and was forced to remain an Infantry Officer.
In 1950, Weston was made the Company Commander of H-Company, 17th Regiment, 7th Division in Japan. Shortly thereafter, Weston's unit was deployed to Busan, Korea, just as the Korean War began. Weston was wounded in his thigh, arm, and chest as he led his men in blunting an advance by a North Korean assault unit. The action by Weston and his company was instrumental in halting the advance of the enemy on Busan. This battle was later called one of the main turning points in the war. For his action in this battle Weston was recommended for a Congressional Medal of Honor.
After receiving and recovering from these injuries, Weston rose through the ranks, being promoted to Major, stationed at the Pentagon for three years, and then promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In 1961 Weston joined a group of Green Berets in Laos, where they helped train locals to fight against the Soviet-trained Viet Cong.[3]
Weston retired from the Army as a Colonel in 1968. He had 4 children and died in 2003 at the age of 89.
References
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