Congress Honors Elite U.S.-Canadian Unit From WWII Led By 'Fighting' General From San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- The Congressional Gold Medal is being awarded Tuesday to 1st Special Service Force—a World War II fighting group made up of 1,800 Americans and Canadian that also known as the "Devils Brigade" and were feared by the Germans.
The unit's commander was San Francisco-born Robert T. Frederick who at age 37 was the youngest general in the U.S. Army. Winston Churchill once called him the greatest the fighting general of all time.
LISTEN:
The Devil's Brigade first gained notoriety after taking a strategic location from the Germans.
"The Germans controlled a series of mountain tops between the Fifth Army to the south and Rome and they just could not get pas these mountain tops," Brad Hicks, Frederick's grandson said, "My grandfather in this unit he had trained scaled a cliff in the middle of the night in the freezing rain on a December night and surprised the Germans at daybreak on top."
The Devil's Brigade was responsible for about 12,000 German casualties, and capturing 7,000 prisoners.
Now with the Congressional Medal award, Hicks said the legacy of the Devi's Brigade will continue to live on.
"It's an awesome day for our family; it's an awesome day for all the families of the force members but most of all, what a an amazing honor for the guys that are still with us."
Forty members of the commando unit are still living.
Frederick, who led his men into battle, was not only the youngest general; he was also the most wounded, Hicks said. He was injured eight times
Frederick is buried at the San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio.
