One of 324 US Army Soldiers ever entitled to wear the Combat Infantry Badge with 2 Stars. Sergeant Major Pate entered military service from Clinton, Illinois in 1943. He served in the European Theater of Operations with the 44th Infantry Division.

He went on to serve in the Korean War with the 3rd Infantry Division; and the Vietnam War with the 9th Infantry Division, earning a Combat Infantryman's Badge with two stars and a Bronze Star.

**SPECIAL FORCES FACTS:

When asked what is the rarest award that a soldier can receive, most people say "The Medal of Honor".
Actually it is the third award of the Combat Medical Badges only two soldiers have received that honor.

The next rarest award is the third award of the Combat Infantry Badge of which there were only 308 that are recorded at the Infantry Museum.

Triple Combat Infantryman's Badge WWII, Korea and Vietnam.
One of only 324 US Soldiers ever entitled to wear the Combat Infantry Badge with 2 Stars.**

Donald Pate (1921)