Oct 30 , 2025
Edward Schowalter's Medal of Honor Heroism at Outpost Harry
Edward Schowalter’s rifle cracked through the frozen night. Bullets tore at his flesh and blood soaked the mud beneath his boots, but he never faltered. His company was shattered, pinned beneath a relentless North Korean assault, and the hill they held was a crucible lit by enemy fire. He stood alone, a blazing bulwark against annihilation.
Born for Battle, Raised on Faith
Edward R. Schowalter Jr. was forged in the small towns of Oklahoma, where grit was a family virtue and faith was the bedrock. Raised in a modest home, discipline and honor steeled his youth. The boy who loaded rifles and read scripture in quiet moments grew into a man who carried the weight of a soldier’s oath without complaint.
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23 whispered through the chaos in his mind. Faith wasn’t armor. It was breath — the belief that purpose outlasts pain, that every scar carries meaning beyond the flesh.
He carried that code into the United States Army and later into war.
The Battle That Defined Him: Outpost Harry, June 1953
June 10, 1953. The Korean War’s bitter endgame. Schowalter was a lieutenant in B Company, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, tasked with defending Outpost Harry — a key forward position overlooking the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army launched one of their fiercest nighttime assaults to overrun Harry’s hill — an assault that could flip the battlefield. The enemy conquered trenches to the left and right, claws scratching their way closer.
Schowalter’s platoon was isolated, half of his men dead or wounded, ammunition nearly spent.
“I won’t let my men die for nothing,” he said, rallying the survivors.
Wounded in the shoulder and arm by grenade shrapnel, he refused evacuation. Instead, he manned an automatic rifle, moved between foxholes under swirling enemy grenades, and directed close-quarters counterattacks.
Every yard ceded was clawed back in hand-to-hand fighting. When bullets and grenades threatened to tear him apart, he crawled out again and again.
At dawn, the enemy gave way, leaving behind hundreds of casualties.
His actions delayed the enemy’s advance—and gave the UN forces time to reinforce lines.
Recognition Etched in Valor
For extraordinary heroism that day, Edward R. Schowalter Jr. was awarded the Medal of Honor.
His citation reads in part:
“Lieutenant Schowalter’s intrepid leadership and personal courage were a source of inspiration to his men and were instrumental in repelling repeated enemy attacks.”1
Generals and infantrymen alike praised his grit. 7th Infantry Division commander Major General David G. Barr called him:
“A soldier of rare valor who carried the fight into the teeth of hell.”2
His wounds, the pain, the exhaustion—none dimmed the fire in his eyes.
Legacy Written in Blood and Honor
Schowalter’s stand at Outpost Harry echoed beyond Korea’s frozen ground. He epitomized the warrior’s truth—leadership isn’t popular; it’s necessary. Sacrifice isn’t accidental; it’s deliberate.
His story speaks across generations: a testament to what cannot be taught in classrooms or paraded in ceremonies—the sheer will to resist, to endure.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13
Only a few will ever endure the hell Edward faced. But each of us carries battles—battles of fear, doubt, failure. His courage whispers to those fights.
He bled for a hill in Korea so others could breathe free.
His legacy isn’t medals or speeches.
It’s the unyielding spirit found when the night wants to swallow the light.
Sources
1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, “Medal of Honor Recipients: Korean War” 2. Barr, David G., Seventh Infantry Division Unit History, 1953
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