Edward Joseph Metzger was born in July 28th, 1912 in his hometown of Decatur, Indiana. His mother Marie Anderson was a native of Indiana. His father Joseph Metzger on the other hand was a native of Germany. He had 3 brothers, Sgt. John Anderson of the army, Pfc. Robert Anderson and Thomas Anderson. Prior to him being in the military he worked at the General Electric plant. He went to school at The Decatur Catholic High School. He was part of the basketball team, The Commodores. He was also part of The Commercial class in the high school. Which seems to be a high school newspaper. Edward Metzger drafted into The United States Army on April 4th, 1942, in Toledo, Ohio. His terms of enlistment were to serve for the rest of the war plus six months and subjected to the President of the U.S. He trained at Fort Benning, Knox and Camp Attenbury. Then he was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. Technician 4 Metzger was assigned to the 101st Company, 10th Armored Division in General George Patton's Third Army. The 10th Armored Division was nicknamed the "Tiger Division". It was created on July 5th, 1942 at Fort Benning. The 3rd Army landed in France to liberate it from the Nazi's. It was given the job to "Drive a dagger into the heart of Hitler's Germany". After the liberation of France it made its way into Belgium where it would be engulfed in the Battle of The Bulge. On December 17th, 1944 the division gave artillery support and tanks to combat the Nazi offensive. After pushing 75 miles in one day, the division were the first reinforcements to arrive at Bastogne, Belgium. A soldier named Rufus Lewis Jr. stated that when they arrived American troops were running past them in retreat. In the end, the 101st Airborne & the 10th Armored Division were able to survive for 10 days until reinforcements arrived. The division would continue to go through Belgium and through the Siegfried Line. By the end of the war the division captured roughly 650 towns and 56,000 German prisoners. Edward J. Metzger died in battle on February 21st, 1945. The 10th Armored Division was attacking the city of Metz and going across the Rhine river when Edward was killed in action (KIA). Edward was then buried in the American cemetery in the nation of Luxembourg. For his sacrifice and service, Technician Metzger earned the Purple Heart, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal. His division, The 10th Armored Division, also received a Presidential Unit Citation for the division's heroic deeds in saving the 101st Airborne at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. For participating in combat action, Tech 4 Metzger earned the Combat Infantryman Badge. Information researched and collected by Noah Harner, 2015.
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Wilkinson, Jeff. "Battle of the Bulge Profiles: 10th Armored First to Bastogne." The State. 31 Aug. 2010. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. http://www.thestate.com/news/military/article14388251.html.
"Sgt. Bud Metzger Is Killed in Action with Army in Germany." The Daily Democraft 5 Mar. 1945. Print.