Medal of Honor Hero Edward R. Schowalter Jr. Held the Line

Dec 15 , 2025

Medal of Honor Hero Edward R. Schowalter Jr. Held the Line

Blood drips. The cold dark bites harder than the enemy’s bullets. Edward R. Schowalter Jr., standing alone amid shattered trenches, commands with a sniper’s eye and a lion’s roar. His men are down. The foe presses like a suffocating storm. Wounded—not once, but twice—he refuses to yield. His voice, raspy, raw: Hold the line. In that frozen hell of Korea, a singular will became the difference between death and survival.

From Kansas Fields to the Crucible of War

Edward Robert Schowalter Jr. was a Midwestern kid born in Coffeyville, Kansas, 1927. Raised on the steady virtues of hard work, faith, and family, the boy grew into a man forged by the relentless rhythms of a small-town life. No frills. No shortcuts. A steel spine beneath quiet humility.

Faith was his anchor. A lifelong Christian, Schowalter carried a personal code rooted in scripture and honor. The Psalm etched into his heart: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” (Psalm 23:4). This wasn’t surface piety. It was survival fuel—a compass turning toward redemption even through blood and mud.

Before Korea, Schowalter had already tasted the harsh iron of combat during World War II, enlisting after high school. That experience tempered him—but Korea would test his mettle beyond any previous storm.

The Frozen Battlefield: Heart of the Fight

January 1951, near Changjin Reservoir. The air was ice. The enemy—a determined horde of Chinese troops—surrounded the 2nd Infantry Division’s outposts. Schowalter, then a first lieutenant commanding a rifle platoon, found himself clinging to a knoll with a handful of men.

The Chinese launched relentless assaults. Waves smashing like ocean surf. Lieutenant Schowalter’s orders were clear: Hold. No retreat.

But this battle was no rote defense. Enemy fire shredded his men. The cold seized breath and shattered bones beneath layers of gear. Schowalter himself was hit multiple times—once piercing the eyebrow, once in the side. The pain was a furnace, but he kept moving, rallying soldiers, dragging wounded comrades, replacing fallen commanders in the chaos.

At one point, facing total onslaught, Schowalter called in artillery strikes almost on top of his own position. “If my men are to live, the enemy must be stopped here,” he said later. He chose the knife-edge of risk over surrender.

Hours blurred into a nightmare of gunfire and blood. Yet, under his command, the men repelled attack after attack. His relentless presence lifted flagging spirits. He moved where others couldn’t. Shot through the knee, he refused evacuation. The line held.

The Medal of Honor: Valor Etched in Combat

For extraordinary heroism and leadership, Schowalter received the Medal of Honor on March 4, 1951. The citation reads:

“Lieutenant Schowalter displayed intrepidity, courage, and self-sacrifice above and beyond the call of duty... despite wounds, he continued to command and inspire... refused aid until the enemy was repulsed.”

Brigadier General James Van Fleet called him “a warrior who seemed to carry the fighting spirit of our Republic itself.” Fellow soldiers remembered him as “iron-livered, relentless, and the heart of the fight.”

Despite his acclaim, Schowalter remained humble—quietly attributing his survival to faith and the valor of his men.

The Enduring Legacy of a Warrior’s Soul

Schowalter’s story is not just one of battlefield glory. It’s a testament to unyielding courage in the face of annihilation. To the scars—both seen and unseen—that veterans bear silently. To the faith that sustains through the darkest nights.

His life teaches that true leadership is service. That sacrifice is never in vain. And that redemption often comes hand-in-hand with profound suffering.

Many veterans walk through their own valleys of death. Schowalter’s example reminds us that even in that shadow—fear is not mandatory. The warrior’s heart endures. The soul prevails.

“Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

Edward R. Schowalter Jr. left more than medals on the field. He left a blueprint for courage—etched in scars, faith, and quiet resilience. For every veteran facing battle’s aftermath, his story stands as a solemn prayer and a fierce declaration: Hold fast. Keep fighting. Redemption is still ahead.

Sources

1. United States Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: Korean War 2. Edward R. Schowalter Jr., Medal of Honor Citation 3. Jacobson, Gordon L., The Korean War Medal of Honor Heroes (2013) 4. Van Fleet, James, Oral History Interview, U.S. Army War College Archives