Lester L. Schlenker
38734296 Tec 5
Co A 108tb Inf. Div.
United States Army
1944-1946

    Lester L. Schlenker was born 8 Apri11924 in Carlis1e, Arkansas, the son of William L. and Lenora Beggs Schlenker . He grew up with one brother, Lawrence Winford and one sister, Faye, and he attended schools in Carlisle and DeWitt, Arkansas. Before entering the Army, he was a farmer.
    Lester was inducted 17 November 1944 and after basic training, he served with the 108th Infantry Division. He left the States 14 April 1945 aboard the USS COLLINS for the South Pacific (one month later his daughter was born -13 May 1945). He was assigned to the 2nd Platoon of Company A and they landed at Leyte, Philippine Islands after the 1st of May. On the 23 April 1945 he was wounded, but continued to help his platoon in the rescue of a pilot who had crashed in a canyon. He was discharged 8 August 1946 and received the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Ribbon with one Bronze Star, the Philippine Liberation Campaign Ribbon with one Bronze Star, the Good Conduct Medal and the World War II Victory Ribbon.
    From the Wynne Progress -3 November 1995: "20 May 1945 during an offensive movement against the Japanese on the Island of Mindano, Schlenker was a U.S. Army Corporal with Co A 108th Inf. Div. at the time. He remembers slipping and falling on the incline of the bank of a river his squad was crossing. Feeling a "sudden, terrible pain in his left side", Schlenker saw blood gushing from a wound, but figured he had only broken a rib. He continued to cross the river. Fifty years later, after being X-rayed for cancer, made the discovery that started him on the road to seeking the Purple Heart. The pain he felt in his side on that day in 1945, had not been caused by a broken rib, after all. The wound was from an enemy bullet that had struck him in the side, becoming embedded between his heart and lung."
    On Veterans Day, U.S. Representative Blanche Lambert Lincoln announced he had been presented the Purple Heart and a letter of commendation from President William Clinton.
    Lester married Dorothy Faye Watkins and they had three children: Beverly, Darryl and Carroll. He returned to his farm in Cross County where he raised rice and soybeans. His hobbies were hunting and gardening.
    Lester L. Schlenker  died 31 October 1998 and was buried in Crosslawn Cemetery, Wynne, Arkansas.