Published September 30. 2022 06:46PM
World War II veteran Clarence Smoyer, a Lehighton native whose war stories about the U.S. Army’s 3rd Armored Division, nicknamed the Spearhead Division, were portrayed in a book and movie, died Friday.
He was 99.
In 1945, he defeated a German Panther tank near the cathedral in Cologne, Germany - a dramatic duel filmed by an Army cameraman that was seen around the world.
In 2019 he traveled to Washington, D.C. to receive the Bronze Star.
See full story in Saturday’s edition.
World War II veteran Clarence Smoyer, 96, poses for a picture in front of a Sherman tank after receiving the Bronze Star, near the World War II Memorial, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Washington. Smoyer fought with the U.S. Army's 3rd Armored Division, nicknamed the Spearhead Division. In 1945, he defeated a German Panther tank near the cathedral in Cologne, Germany - a dramatic duel filmed by an Army cameraman that was seen around the world. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)