Carlos Carnes Ogden, Sr. (May 9, 1917 – April 2, 2001) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration — the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

— for his actions in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Ogden attended Eastern Illinois University, where he was a standout on the Panthers’ football and basketball teams in the late 1930s.

Biography

Ogden joined the Army from

Fairmount, Illinois Fairmount is a village in Vance Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is part of the Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 642 at the 2010 census. History Josiah Hunt, a railroad engineer, repo ...

in April 1941, and by June 25, 1944, was serving as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

in Company K, 314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division. During a firefight on that day, near Fort du Roule,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, Ogden single-handedly destroyed three

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

gun emplacements. For his actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor one year later, on June 28, 1945. Ogden reached the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

before leaving the Army in 1947.DOD Medal of Honor Monday article
/ref> After the war, Ogden married Louise Sanford, with whom he had four sons. Ogden spent much of his post-war life participating in Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and a variety of youth sports leagues, but never forgot his military roots. In 1956, he went to France as a member of the official U.S. delegation to attend the dedication of the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. Two years later, at the invitation of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he served as an honorary pallbearer at the internment of the World War II and Korea Unknown service members at Arlington National Cemetery. Ogden was also invited in 1964 to serve as one of 15 people from the U.S. to attend France's 20th anniversary commemoration of the Invasion of Normandy. Ogden died at age 83 and was buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

. He was posthumously recognized as a Distinguished Alumni Award recipient by the EIU Alumni Association in 2004, being represented at the ceremony by his wife Louise.

Medal of Honor citation

Ogden's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

On the morning of June 25, 1944, near Fort du Roule, guarding the approaches to
Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...
, France, 1st Lt. Ogden's company was pinned down by fire from a German 88-mm. gun and 2 machineguns. Arming himself with an
M-1 rifle The M1 Garand or M1 rifleOfficially designated as U.S. rifle, caliber .30, M1, later simply called Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, also called US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1 is a semi-automatic rifle that was the service rifle of the U.S. Army during World Wa ...
, a
grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large caliber projectile, often with an explosive, Smoke screen, smoke, or tear gas, gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary gre ...
, and a number of rifle and hand grenades, he left his company in position and advanced alone, under fire, up the slope toward the enemy emplacements. Struck on the head and knocked down by a glancing machinegun bullet, 1st Lt. Ogden, in spite of his painful wound and enemy fire from close range, continued up the hill. Reaching a vantage point, he silenced the 88mm. gun with a well-placed
rifle grenade A rifle grenade is a grenade that uses a rifle-based launcher to permit a longer effective range than would be possible if the grenade were thrown by hand. The practice of projecting grenades with rifle-mounted launchers was first widely used dur ...
and then, with handgrenades, knocked out the 2 machineguns, again being painfully wounded. 1st Lt. Ogden's heroic leadership and indomitable courage in alone silencing these enemy weapons inspired his men to greater effort and cleared the way for the company to continue the advance and reach its objectives.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogden, Carlos C. 1917 births 2001 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Burials at Arlington National Cemetery People from Edgar County, Illinois United States Army officers World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor Military personnel from Vermilion County, Illinois Battle of Normandy recipients of the Medal of Honor

Biography

Medal of Honor citation

See also

Notes

References