Friday I had the honor and privilege to be a featured guest on “The Shaun Thompson Show” on Salem Radio’s Chicago station (AM560 The Answer) on Friday. At the start of this year’s Memorial Day weekend, Mr. Thompson wanted to discuss my dad’s heroism and exploits during and just after WWII as well as my award-winning book, At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, and an Amazing Horse.

ABOUT THIS CLIP

Dr. Walt Larimore, author of At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, and an Amazing Horse, tells Shaun the story of his father fighting in WW2 as a teenager to simply give us the liberties we enjoy today and the importance of continuing to fight for our freedoms.

In his captain’s portrait, Phil is wearing several of his battle awards. The striped patch on his left shoulder represents the “Blue and White Devils” of the 3rd Infantry Division. Phil was wounded six times in battle but refused three of the six offered Purple Hearts.

Phil’s mother received a Western Union telegram on two occasions of Phil being wounded. Both resulted in battlefield decorations including two Purple Hearts, one Silver Star, and a Distinguished Service Cross. After receiving his second leg wound in 1944, Phil recuperated in a field hospital in a bed next to World War II hero Audie Murphy.

After Phil received the Distinguished Service Cross in a ceremony at Fort Myer, his story was featured in this newspaper clipping that noted how he was the youngest man commissioned as an infantry officer during World War II.

After the war, while waiting for a decision on his discharge, Phil was assigned to ceremonial duties for the Military District of Washington. One of his tasks was attending the visits of dignitaries. Phil is standing next to General Dwight D. Eisenhower (seen just at the right of Eisenhower’s shoulder) and British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.

Walt Larimore’s mother, Maxine, is pictured with her boys (from the left): Walt, Billy, Rick, and Phil.

The shadow box also included two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars (both with the “V” device for valor), four Purple Hearts, the European Theater of Operations Campaign Medal with Four Bronze Stars and an Arrowhead, three Presidential Unit Citations, along with the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and Combat Infantryman Badge, as well as a Fourragere and two Croix D’Guerre medals from the French. He was one of the youngest and most decorated frontline soldiers in World War II.

Phil and his buddy, Chug, after the war.

Walt Larimore has chronicled the exploits of his father, Philip B. Larimore, Jr., in At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, and an Amazing Horse, which has been endorsed by numerous former generals like Gen. David Petraeus, Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, and Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody; sports celebrities that include Mike “Coach K” Krzyzewski, Dan Reeves, and Joe Gibbs; nationally-syndicated columnist Cal Thomas, and multi-New York Times best-selling authors Jerry B. Jenkins and Marcus Brotherton. For more information, visit tinyurl.com/OrderAtFirstLight.

You can order the book here.

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