y father Del E. Brady was attached to the received the Silver Star for "gallantry in action on 15 April 1945, near Pigna, Italy". The following is an excerpt from the history of the 10th Mountain Division, 87th Mountain Infantry for Company E on that day. Dad was attached to the company. SECOND DAY—15 APRIL At 2055 of 14 April, General HAYS, commanding the Division, ordered the regiment to renew the attack in the morning at 0700 in a coordinated attack with the 85th Mountain Infantry on the left. The 1st Battalion was to jump off to the northeast at the same time the 2nd Battalion was to begin the attack on Mt. Pigna. The attack of both battalions was to be preceded by a 20-minute artillery preparation. Rover Pete was ordered to “plaster” Mt. Pigna before 0700. The 3rd Battalion was to move forward to an assembly area on the south slopes of Hill 903. 2nd Battalion—Mt. Pigna COMPANY E Company E jumped off at 0700 leading the battalion to take Mt. Pigna to the northeast. Company F, on Hill 868, was to hold south of Pigna for a time and support this attack of Company E. T/5 ALAN HUNTLEY, a radio operator, was killed, and S/Sgt. GEORGE MARCH of the battalion S-2 section, was wounded by an artillery shell on top of Hill 868. The attached heavy machine guns from Company H prepared supporting fire from around Tabole. Two light machine guns were attached to the leading 3rd Platoon and one to the 1st Platoon which followed right behind them. The mortar squads were attached one to each platoon. As they moved north up the valley toward Santa Lucia, they ran into Company B southeast of the town. Company F held up while E started up Mt. Pigna from the southwest. The 1st Platoon moved over to the left, coming abreast of the 3rd Platoon as they climbed up the wooded, rocky slopes. They received some machine gun fire from Hill 840 lying southeast of Pigna. Also, snipers fired from Pigna itself. When the 3rd Platoon was just short of the crest, artillery and mortar fire hit them with a terrific barrage. The men were caught out in the open as the accurate barrage came down on the hillcrest just as they swarmed over it. Killed were: S/Sgt. THOMAS O’NEIL, Pfc. HECTOR W. BRUNEAU, acing mortar sergeant, Pfc. FREDDIE DICKENS, Pfc. CHARLES G. STICE, and Pfc. ROBERT A BERGENDORFF. Wounded were: First Lieutenant GEORGE J. FOX, S/Sgt. LESTER L. HAMILTON, Sgt. KENNETH E. JOHNSON, Pfc. HARRY R. GILMORE, JR., Pfc. WILLIAM W. SHIEW, Pfc. EDWARD C. OGDEN, Pfc. RAYMOND D. HUCKLEBERRY, Pvt. BILLEY W. HARMON, Pvt. ARTHUR J. HOLLAND, Pvt. WILLIAM J. WOLFE, Pvt. ROBERT O. THOMAS, and T/5 VINCENT B. DOWD of the Medics. Pfc. JOHN A. KASABUSKI was killed by a hand grenade at this same time. As the barrage tapered off to spasmodic firing, fifteen Germans surrendered from positions on top of the hill, and several others fled down the reverse slope. The company dug in and reorganized atop Mt. Pigna. The battalion attack was to move on to the southeast to Hill 840, while E remained on Mt. Pigna to support the advance of Company F with machine gun and rifle fire. ___________________