Springfield South Dakota Veterans
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FIRST LIEUTENANT PETER H. MONFORE

Picture
All plebes at West Point must take boxing as a physical education class.  In the old historic Arvin gymnasium, there was a large room that housed all the plebe boxers as they took their instructions.   The large boxing room was nondescript with punching bags hanging from the ceiling and the entire floor and walls covered with padding except for one small spot on one of the walls where there was a small 8 inch by 12-inch unassuming full length picture of a cadet.    There was not one other picture or any other decoration in the room.  The picture wasn’t of Douglas MacArthur, or Dwight Eisenhower, or Omar Bradley or George Patton.  The picture was of a cadet who was the product of a very small town in southeastern South Dakota (Springfield) and his name was Pete Monfore.   It wasn’t an accident that Pete’s picture was there.  He was an Eastern Intercollegiate champion boxer, a leader in the Corps of Cadets, a humanitarian, a war hero, an example of what West Point strives to produce and one of the most highly regarded cadets in the academy’s history.

Peter Howland Monfore graduated from the United States Military Academy in June of 1950 and by August found himself in Korea as a platoon leader helping the United Nation forces fight their way out of the Pusan perimeter where they had been pushed by the hordes of North Korean Army invading from the North.   In the process of breaking out of the Southern tip of Korea and regaining territory lost to the North Koreans, Lt Monfore was seriously wounded and evacuated to Japan. 

After recovering from his wounds, he rejoined his division in October of 1950 in pushing the North Koreans back through Korea to the Yalu River on the northern edge of the country.  For the next year, Lt Monfore fought with the 2nd Infantry Division as a company commander as the Chinese entered the war and pushed the UN forces back to the 38th parallel, where a stalemate developed between the two armies.  Although neither side had much success in gaining ground, the action was fierce as each side jockeyed to improve its position.  On the morning of September 12, 1951, more than a year since Pete had entered the fight, his “L” company was ordered to move to Heartbreak Ridge and take Hill 851.  “L” Company took Hill 851 but was met by two battalions of the Chinese Army and ultimately surrounded.  In the ensuing close-in fierce fight, 1Lt Pete Monfore was mortally wounded; thus, ended the short but full and glorious life of Lieutenant Peter Howland Monfore from Springfield, South Dakota.

The accolades were overwhelming as those who knew Pete became aware of his death:

“(Lt Monfore) was certainly as fine a soldier as West Point has produced.  He lived up to every part of Duty, Honor, and Country”, said Colonel J. Adams, Commanding Officer of the 23rd Infantry.  “We marveled at how many had been affected by his personality, unselfishness, kindness, helpfulness, sportsmanship, leadership, honest, integrity, thoughtfulness, love of God, and love for his fellow men.  As fine a man as ever walked the face of the earth.”  Read letters from those who knew him when finding out about his death.

Lieutenant Peter Monfore was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (the second highest Army award for Valor), the French Croix de Guerre, the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.  

                                             Dick Martin


Veterans' Information Links

  • https://loans.usnews.com/va-loans
  • https://loans.usnews.com/va-loans#how-va-loans-work
  • https://loans.usnews.com/va-loans#additional-va-home-loan-programs
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This web page is a work in progress. It has been created through the donated efforts of Laura Genant Martin, Dick Martin, and Jim Hornstra. When Laura was made aware of what we needed, she took the initiative to research and educate herself on how to create a web site to identify, respect and honor the military veterans in Springfield. The web site had to be easy to navigate and had to provide the viewer a method of providing feedback. Most of the written material has been provided by Dick Martin over the past couple of years with some important contributions from others, i.e. Jim Kirk.  Jim Hornstra has been the reliable source as he has been the collector of information concerning Springfield Veterans and has provided Laura much of what has gone into the web site.
  • World War I
    • Veteran Photos
    • Biographies >
      • Edwin Dwight Wood
  • World War II
    • Veteran Photos
    • Springfield Was There
    • The Rest of the Story >
      • Lawrence Namminga
      • Chuck Dawes
      • Grover DeLong
      • Fred C Hornstra
      • Clarence Ludens
      • Jack Martin
      • John Palsma
      • Bob Slade
      • Joe Uken Jr
    • Biographies A-H >
      • Walter Babcock
      • Wayne Barham
      • Charles "Chuck" Dawes
      • Grover DeLong
      • Jake DenOuden
      • Robert DeRoos
      • Shorty Halsey
      • Nanno Hiemstra
      • Fred C Hornstra
    • Biographies K-Ma >
      • Bernard Kastein
      • James Kirk
      • Leonard Lange
      • Ted Lindeman
      • Clarence Ludens
      • John C. Ludens
      • John "Jack" Martin
      • Richard "Darby" Martin
    • Biographies Mi-O >
      • Floyd Mitchell
      • Jacob Namminga
      • Lawrence Namminga Sr
      • Ode Odens
      • Lawrence Owens
    • Biographies P-S >
      • Allen Palsma
      • John Palsma
      • Virgil Rauch
      • Jack Rich
      • Robert Slade
    • Biographies Th-U >
      • Clark Thomas
      • Neil Thomas
      • Merle Toyne
      • Joe Uken
  • Korean War
    • Veteran Photos
    • The Rest of the Story >
      • Robert "Bob" Ludens
    • Biographies >
      • Donald Dempster
      • Gelvin "Gil" DeRoos
      • Robert "Bob" Ludens
      • Virginia McClure
      • Donald McMillan
      • Peter Monfore
      • Wilbert Renner
      • Clarence Vanderlei
  • Cold War
    • Veteran Photos
    • Biographies >
      • Robert McCollum
  • Vietnam War
    • Veteran Photos
    • The Rest of the Story >
      • Daryl Heusinkveld
      • Harvey Kastein
      • Dan Mejstrik
      • Lee Merchen
      • Larry Talsma
    • My Week in Hue City
    • Biographies >
      • Daryl Heusinkveld
      • Harvey Kastein
      • Perry Lundin
      • Dan Mejstrik
      • Lee Merchen
      • Robert Monfore
      • Larry Talsma
  • Middle East Wars
    • Veteran Photos
    • Biographies >
      • James "Uke" Uken
  • Army National Guard
    • Veteran Photos
    • Rapid City Flood
    • Japanese Internment