Clyde L Choate
Clyde was born on the 28th of June 1920, in West Frankfort, Illinois, and he grew up in Anna with his eleven siblings. While in school, Clyde worked on a farm and he graduated from Anna-Jonesboro High School, before enlisted in the US Army in 1942. I am unsure when he deployed to Europe in support of World War 2, but based on what I was able to find, I would estimate he arrived on the continent in about March of 1943, and he remained there until the end of the war. Clyde was with Company C of the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion when he displayed actions that would earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
He commanded a tank destroyer near Bruyeres, France, on 25 October 1944. Our infantry occupied a position on a wooded hill when, at dusk, an enemy Mark IV tank and a company of infantry attacked, threatening to overrun the American position and capture a command post 400 yards to the rear. SSgt. Choate's tank destroyer, the only weapon available to oppose the German armor, was set afire by two hits. Ordering his men to abandon the destroyer, SSgt. Choate reached comparative safety. He returned to the burning destroyer to search for comrades possibly trapped in the vehicle, risking instant death in an explosion which was imminent and braving enemy fire which ripped his jacket and tore the helmet from his head. Completing the search and seeing the tank and its supporting infantry overrunning our infantry in their shallow foxholes, he secured a bazooka and ran after the tank dodging from tree to tree and passing through the enemy's loose skirmish line. He fired a rocket from a distance of 20 yards, immobilizing the tank but leaving it able to spray the area with cannon and machine-gun fire. Running back to our infantry through vicious fire, he secured another rocket, and, advancing against a hail of machine-gun and small-arms fire reached a position 10 yards from the tank. His second shot shattered the turret. With his pistol he killed two of the crew as they emerged from the tank; and then running to the crippled Mark IV while enemy infantry sniped at him, he dropped a grenade inside the tank and completed its destruction. With their armor gone, the enemy infantry became disorganized and was driven back. SSgt. Choate's great daring in assaulting an enemy tank singlehandedly, his determination to follow the vehicle after it had passed his position, and his skill and crushing thoroughness in the attack prevented the enemy from capturing a battalion command post and turned a probable defeat into tactical success.
Clyde would also receive the Silver Star and the Bronze Star throughout his deployment, in addition to being offered a battlefield commission, which he turned down. In a ceremony at the White House on the 23rd of August 1945, Clyde received the Medal of Honor from President Truman, and he was honorably discharged from the Army the following year.
Clyde went on to be an active member in the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives for the 50th district. President Truman had urged him to run for office after Clyde had shared concerns about the coal industry, since his father had been a coal miner. After the election, he was married to Mabel and the couple had two daughters. Clyde remained in office for thirty years and after retirement, he became the director of external affairs for Southern Illinois University. Clyde Lee Choate died on the 5th of October 2001, at the age of 81 due to congestive heart failure. He is buried with his wife in the Anna Cemetery in Anna, Illinois.
