First Sgt

First Sgt. George Terhanco
serial number 35585715
83r d Division
331st Infantry Regiment
Company F, 2nd Platoon

Youngstown, Ohio Vindicator - April 22, 1945
Terhanco, Wounded 4 Times, Keeps Away from Hospitals

Wounded four times - three times in a three-week period - First Sgt. George Terhanco, aged 32, of 546 Princeton Ave., never saw the inside of a hospital overseas. "I didn't want to leave my men in the lurch," the sergeant said. "I was kinda stubborn about it." He was wounded June 29, in France, shrapnel in hip; July 11, in France, bullet in left shoulder; July 18, in France, bullet in knee, and Dec. 10, in Germany, shrapnel in calf of right leg. He also has a Bronze Star, Silver Star, combat infantryman badge and good conduct medal. He got his first wound while delivering hand grenades. "I was lugging them in one of those double mortar bags. The German threw in some heavy mortar. Hot shrapnel tore into my hip. An inch closer and it would have cut my spinal cord. "Dig that shrapnel out," he ordered one of his men. "I don't have a knife," the soldier protested. Terhanco yanked out his own bayonet and his friend dug the shrapnel out.

Terhanco then tried to carry the grenades. "But I was bleeding to hard," he explains. "An officer say the trail I left and ordered me back to the aid station. I wouldn't leave it for a hospital." Three days later he was back with his outfit. His leg took a long time to heal and became infected several times. It was still unhealed when he arrived at Santennyu, France. Terhanco set up an outpost and was just 250 yards from the command post, ready to report in for the night, when he felt a sting in his shoulder. He shrugged and kept on going. When he walked in the post, the officers spotted a .30 caliber tracer wedged in his shoulder. "So it was back to the aid station," he grins. "They said 'What, again !' and cut out the bullet." Somewhere on the other side of Santenny, Terhanco got orders to lead the company. "I kept on until we were halfway through an orchard," Terhanco tells it. "Then a sniper clipped off the ear of the Bazooka man beside me. He threw down his Bazooka and ran. I yelled at the rest to det back. "But I felt bad.

That Bazooka was a new-style model. I made up my mind we had to get it. So I began sneaking up through the orchard again, crawling behind trees, my eyes peeled for the sniper. I was practically there when the company we were supposed to meet came marching past. A whole company tramping straight ahead and not a single shot from that sniper. So I stopped hiding and stepped right out - and a bullet got me through the kneecap. "I was kinda stubborn about it. I reached again for the Bazooka. There was another shot." That did it. He went back to his men, got an emergency bandage and walked on to the aid station, his knee making hard going of it. "What the hell have you been up to ?" yelled a man on duty at the aid station.

By this time, they didn't have to question Terhanco, they knew his name, address and serial number. He stayed there for a few days, delivering supplies in a jeep, his bad leg stuck straight out over the hood. When Terhanco reported back to his unit, the major told him to take over as first sergeant. Late in October, in Luxembourg, he earned the Silver Star. They were on the outskirts of a small town. Blistering artillery and tank fire had disorganized the company and they were short of officers. Terhanco took over a group of men. Acting on their own initiative they captured one section of the town. Terhanco says he was awarded the Bronze Star for a series of actions. His last wound was minor. A piece of shrapnel stuck in his leg during the battle of Huertgen Forest. The son of Mr. and Mrs. George Terhanco Sr., Sergeant Terhanco attended Sough High School and later worked at an A & P store. He has been in service two and a half years and overseas since April.

George P. Terhanko, 93

There will be no services for George P. Terhanko, 93, of Austintown, who passed away Sunday morning at Beegly Oaks Nursing Home after a short illness.

Mr. Terhanko was born May 26, 1912 in Mount Pleasant, PA, a son of George J. and Mary A. (Sofranko) Terhanko.

A decorated World War II veteran Mr. Terhanko served with the 83^rd Infantry Division, 331^st Infantry Regiment, Company F from October 13, 1942 to July 24, 1945. Mr. Terhanko earned the rank of 1^st Sergeant and fought in the battles of Normandy, Northern France, The Ardennes, Central Europe, and The Rhineland.

His decorations include the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 5 Bronze Stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Meritorious Unit Citation, and the Good Conduct Medal. In May of 2005 Mr. Terhanko was inducted into the Ohio Military Hall of Fame for Valor.

George retired from the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company after 38 years in 1975, where he was an Inspector at their Salem Plant. Prior to that he was a Meat Department Manager in various local A&P stores.

He was a member of the Wickliffe Christian Church in Austintown and enjoyed golfing.

His wife, the former Ruth I. McMeans, whom he married June 11, 1949, passed away August 6, 1999.

Mr. Terhanko is survived by a son, G. Richard (Linda) Terhanko of Boardman; a daughter, Marta R. (George) Swauger of Austintown; two grandaughters, Nicole M. and Alexis C. Terhanko, both of Boardman; and two grandsons, George and Adam Swauger of Austintown.

Besides his wife, George was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers John and Edward and a sister Mary Graham.

There were no calling hours.

Courtesy of son, Rick Terhanko