Navy Federal Credit Union

Awards Received

  • Silver Star

    Service:

    United States Army

    Rank:

    Private

    Batallion:

    818th Tank Destroyer Battalion

    Division:

    26th Infantry Division

    Action Date:

    April 1, 1945

    Headquarters, 26th Infantry Division, General Orders No. 86 (1945)

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Private Alfred B. Byrne, United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company B, 818th Tank Destroyer Battalion, 26th Infantry Division, in action against the enemy near *****, Germany, on 1 April 1945. On the afternoon of 1 April 1945, a fifteen vehicle convoy of Headquarters, *** Tank Destroyer Battalion, while en route to a previously selected Command Post Area was ambushed between the towns of ***** and ***** by more than two hundred enemy troops, dug in along the route of the convoy’s advance and armed with machine guns and small arms. The hostile fire took the column by surprise since earlier the convoy’s had traversed the same road unmolested. Taking immediate action, Private Byrne, a member of Company B’s Security Section, seized a .30 caliber machine gun, jumped off the vehicle he was riding and without waiting for a tripod to be set up by two comrades who leaped off with him, advanced in the face of heavy enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire. Shooting from the hip, he kept up a drumming fire against the foe and moved forward courageously until he was mortally wounded. Private Byrne died on the field. His heroic action kept the enemy pinned down, thus enabling the other members of the convoy to organize a skirmish line and drive off the hostile force, killing twenty of the enemy and taking twenty-eights prisoners including one officer. His outstanding courage under fire and aggressiveness in action against the enemy reflect the highest credit upon Private Byrne and the Armed Forces of the United States.