Biography
Bloch joined the Army from Streeter, North Dakota in February 1942, and by September 22, 1944 was serving as a first lieutenant in Company E, 338th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division. On that day, near Firenzuola, Italy, he led three soldiers in an attack on enemy positions which resulted in the capture of nineteen prisoners and the silencing of five machine gun nests. For these actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor five months later, on February 10, 1945.
Bloch later served in the Korean War, and reached the rank of colonel before retiring in 1970. He died at age 68 and was buried in Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park, Seattle, Washington.
Read more about this topic: Orville Emil Bloch
Famous quotes containing the word biography:
“Had Dr. Johnson written his own life, in conformity with the opinion which he has given, that every man’s life may be best written by himself; had he employed in the preservation of his own history, that clearness of narration and elegance of language in which he has embalmed so many eminent persons, the world would probably have had the most perfect example of biography that was ever exhibited.”
—James Boswell (1740–95)
“The death of Irving, which at any other time would have attracted universal attention, having occurred while these things were transpiring, went almost unobserved. I shall have to read of it in the biography of authors.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A biography is like a handshake down the years, that can become an arm-wrestle.”
—Richard Holmes (b. 1945)