On 8 January 1945, Sergeant Charles Carey and the antitank platoon he commanded were attacked by some two hundred German soldiers and a dozen tanks during the ferocious week-long battle for the hamlet of Rimling. The attacks against the 100th Infantry Division’s 397th Regiment were part of Operation Nordwind, the offensive on the German border in northeastern France that went hand in hand with the Ardennes offensive. Sergeant Carey played a crucial role in helping his platoon withstand the repeated attacks of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division. The American helped extricate soldiers from untenable positions, killed several snipers, damaged a tank, and single-handedly captured sixteen enemy soldiers. The sergeant kept up the relentless fight until, on the second day of the assault, a sniper ended his life. For his extreme courage under fire, Sergeant Carey was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Today, Carey rests at the American cemetery in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium. Eva, who was 28 when she married Charles in Cheyenne in 1937, stayed behind with three sons. She remained widowed until she died at age 89. A few years ago, her sons donated their father’s Medal of Honor to the Wyoming Military Department in Cheyenne, where it remains on public display. In this picture the reflection of one of his sons can be seen in the medal’s display case. “My brother and I discussed it, and we believe it belongs here,” said Richard, the sergeant’s son. “We can keep this stuff in the closet or we can share it.”
