Page Back here
			The Official Citations for the following
			CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR
			recipient's reads:
			ELMER E. FRYAR
			Rank and organization: Private, Company E, 511th Parachute Infantry, 11th Airborne Division.  Place and Date: Leyte, Philippine Island, 8th December 1944.  Entered service at: Denver Colo. G.O. No.:35, 9th May 1945.  Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.
			Private Fryar’s battalion encountered the enemy strongly entrenched in a position supported by motors and automatic weapons.  The battalion attacked, but it spite of repeated efforts was unable to take the position.
			Private Fryar’s company was ordered to cover the battalion’s withdrawal to a more suitable point from which to attack, but the enemy launched a strong counter attack which threatened to cut off the company.  Seeing an enemy platoon moving to outflank his company, he moved to higher ground and opened heavy and accurate fire.  He drove the enemy back with a loss of 27 killed.  While withdrawing to overtake his squad, he found a seriously wounded comrade, helped him to the rear, and soon overtook his platoon leader*, (Lt. Norman L. Davis) who was assisting another wounded.
			While these four were moving to rejoin their platoon, an enemy sniper appeared and aimed his weapon on the platoon leader.  Private Fryar instantly sprang forward, and received the full burst of automatic fire in his body and fell mortally wounded.  With his remaining strength he threw a hand grenade and killed the sniper.
			Private Fryar’s indomitable fighting spirit and extraordinary gallantry above and beyond the call of duty contributed outstandingly to the success of the battalion’s withdrawal and it subsequent attach and defeat of the enemy.  His hiroic life for his comrade in arms exemplifies the highest tradition of the armed forces of the United States.
			*Ed. Note: 1st Lt Normon Davis was killed in a battle at Sulac, Luzon on April 4, 1945 during the “mopping up” phase of the war.
			MANUEL PEREZ Jr.
			Rank and organization: Private First Class, Company A, 511th Parachute Infantry, 11th Airborne Division. Place and date: Fort William McKinley, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 13 February 1945.  Entered service at: Chicago, Ill.  Birth: Oklahoma City, Okla. G.O. No.:124, 27th December 1945.  Citation: He was the lead scout for Company A, which had destroyed 11 – 12 pillboxes in a strongly fortified sector defending the approach to enemy-held Fort William McKinley on Luzon, Philippine Islands.  In the reduction of the pillboxes, he killed five Japanese in the open and blasted others in pillboxes with grenades.
			Realizing the urgent need for taking the last emplacement, which contained two twin-mount .50-caliber dual-purpose machine guns, he took a circuitous route to within 20 yards of the position, killing four of the enemy in his advance.  He then threw a grenade into the pillbox, and as the enemy crew started withdrawing through a tunnel just to the rear of the emplacement, shot and killed four before exhausting his ammo clip.
			He then reloaded and killed four more when an escaping Japanese threw his rifle and fixed bayonet at him.  In warding off this thrust, his own rifle was knocked to the ground.  Seizing the enemy’s rifle, he continued firing, killing two more of the enemy.  He then rushed the remaining Japanese, killed three of them with the butt of the rifle and entered the pillbox, where he bayoneted the one surviving hostile soldier.
			Single-handedly, he killed 18 of the enemy in neutralizing the position that held up the advance of his entire company.  Through his courageous determination and heroic disregard of grave danger Private Perez made possible the successful advance of his unit toward a valuable objective and provided a lasting inspiration for his comrades.
			Honors Continue for Fryar and Perez
			Fryar:
			The training parachute dropzone at Fort Benning, Georgia was named after Elmer E. Fryar.
			Perez
			On Memorial day, May 30, 1990, ceremonies were conducted in Chicago, Illinois, dedicating an elementary school, named in honor of Private First Class Manuel Perez, Jr. Perez had been killed by a sniper on February 14th 1945.
			Seven former members of A-511th Parachute Infantry Regiment attended the ceremonies, namely Max Polick, Ralph Muentner, Jim Doyle, Bob Pelster, Bill Keister, Harve Cecil and Rudy Kwiatkowski, plus a former member of the 188th Glider Infantry Regiment.  The guest speaker was Medal of Honor recipient Allen J. Lynch.  Other participants included representatives of the Mayor’s Office, members of the Board of Education and District Aldermen.  The flag was raised by Max Polick, Perez’s wartime squad leader, and the A-511th contingent.  A student choir sang the Army Song.
			Courtesy of “WINDS ALOFT” Quarterly publication of the 511th PIR Association