Above, Raymond Geiger receiving his Silver Star.
Jim Geiger recounted what families hear all the time, ”I
don’t want to talk about it.” His father, Raymond Geiger, never shared
his experiences during World War II with him.
It was the war that took the sight in his father’s eye.
Raymond did, however, share some of his war stories with his brothers who
retold the stories to Jim.
After Raymond died in 1982 in a car accident Jim and his
wife Carolyn found many of his father’s papers, medals and photos from his time
during the war. Jim and Carolyn’s daughter put together several beautiful
shadow boxes with the items they found. He learned how much his father had been
through and the newspaper clippings gave him a glimpse into the hero he knew
his dad really was.
When Jim heard about the veteran’s scrapbook project the
Exeter American Legion was working on he knew that he wanted his dad’s story as
a part of the book. It was a story of heroism and bravery that needed to be
preserved. Raymond Wendell Geiger had no idea what waited for him on the other
side of the world when he enlisted in the Army in March of 1942.
He was assigned to the 161st Infantry as a machine gunner
and served in the Guadalcanal and the Asiatic-Pacific Theater.
During his time in the Guadalcanal, Private Geiger and two
other members of his machine gun crew stood their ground and stopped the
Japanese in their tracks as they shut off a Japanese supply line.
A furious Japanese assault was under way and the three men
not only maintained a river and trail block starting on January 19, 1943 but at
times they were outnumbered more than 20 to one.
During the standoff they used their guns and grenades to
prevent the enemy from evacuating their wounded and kept them from supplying
their troops.
As the three men were fighting on the enemy trail, one of
Geiger's companions was seriously wounded. Holding their own wasn't possible
for long and shortly afterward, Geiger was also wounded.
“The stand made at the point of the enemy attack was an
inspiration to the new troops and aided greatly in their reorganization, and
the ultimate frustration of the enemy attack,” reads the official report.
Finally overrun after an extended battle of over a week,
Geiger took action to save his own life. Being seriously wounded with no medics
to transport him to safety he pulled two dead American soldiers over his body
as the Japanese always bayonetted anyone who looked alive. Since he was
protected from discovery by the enemy it was several days before Geiger was
found and received medical attention from U.S. troops.
Geiger was wounded in the eye and despite medical attention
lost his vision in that eye. He was awarded the silver star for his
gallantry in action. While recovering at O’Reilly General Hospital in
Springfield, Missouri he was decorated with the Purple Heart. Geiger was the
first man from Exeter wounded in action during World War II.
Geiger was honorably discharged September 17, 1943 and
returned home to Exeter married Miss Magdalene Hassler in February of 1944 and
continue farming until he died in car accident in 1982. His story and the tale
of his bravery are now documented.
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