By March 1944, he was a fifth-year Army technician. John J. Pinder Jr. He had been in combat for over a year, having served with the 16th Infantry Regiment during the Allied invasion of Algeria, fighting in the mountains of Sicily, and was now in England preparing for the Normandy landings.
But he wasn’t worried about himself, but about the well-being of his family: his brother Harold, a bomber pilot with the Army Air Corps, had been shot down over Europe in January of that year. Having managed to obtain details of his brother’s disappearance and his location in a German prison camp, Pinder wrote to his father. 9-page letter He shared everything he knew.
He ended the letter by encouraging his father to hope for the best, while implying that he would help him deal with the worst.
“You and I must continue to believe that the child is safe. As soon as I hear anything, I will let you know immediately. You must do the same for me. Remember, nothing has ever happened between the three of us except the whole truth.”
The boys (and their sister, Martha) grew up in McKees Landing, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. John played baseball and quickly gained a fearsome reputation on the mound, especially his curveball. He bounced around the minor leagues for a few years, where he impressed fans and teammates with his determination, work ethic and talent. They seemed like a good omen for a great major league career. But when Pinder enlisted in the Army in January 1942, those dreams were put on hold.
Pinder and the 16th Infantry were the first to storm Omaha Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944. Shrapnel ripped through their transport while they were still 100 yards from the shore. Several men were killed instantly, and the rest were strafed by machine gun fire while waist-deep in water.
It was especially tough for Pinder. He was carrying the bulky radio equipment needed to establish communications between the Navy gunners and the men on the beach, weighing about 80 pounds. As Pinder made his way toward shore, a bullet pierced the left side of his face, but he clutched his cheek and continued forward.
Twice he dashed back out into the surf to gather more vital equipment. On the second trip, he was hit in the side by a machine gun bullet, but somehow he kept going. While helping to set up the equipment, he lost consciousness from loss of blood. A few hours later, he died, on what would have been his 32nd birthday.
His brother, Harold, learned of his death while in a prison camp in Germany, but was released at the end of the war and returned home, where he lived until 2008.
Pinder was one of 12 soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery during the Normandy landings. All but four received the medal posthumously. Pinder’s father accepted the medal on his son’s behalf on January 26, 1945.
