Local servicemen to be inducted into Hall of Valor
Courtesy of the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall
U.S. Army Tech Sgt. Angelo Speggen
Courtesy of the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall
U.S. Air Force Col. Robert R. Sawhill
Courtesy of the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall
U.S. Air Force Col. Robert R. Sawhill
Two men with local connections will be among the next inductees at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum Trust’s Joseph A. Dugan Hall of Valor induction ceremony Sunday.
U.S. Air Force Col. Robert R. Sawhill of Carnegie and U.S. Army Tech Sgt. Angelo Speggen of Masontown will be honored at the ceremony at 2 p.m. at the Soldiers & Sailors auditorium in Oakland.
Pennsylvania veterans who have received medals for bravery and heroism are recognized at the annual ceremony.
“It’s a nomination process and they’re usually nominated by family members or friends,” explained Tim Neff, Soldiers & Sailors director of education and museum. “They go through a committee here at Soldiers and Sailors that checks all the paperwork to make sure they have everything to qualify for induction.”
Neff said multiple counties are listed for some of the inductees to indicate any significant connection they may have had with that county, such as birthplace, a place where they lived or a county from where they may have been deployed. Washington and Allegheny counties are listed for Sawhill, and Fayette and Allegheny for Speggen.
The ceremony for nine inductees will be free and open to the public. Also, the museum will be open with free admission from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday.
Sawhill served in the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam in the 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron and the 55th Tactical Fighter Squadron. He was awarded a Silver Star for action in October 1967 while a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.
Sawhill was taken prisoner on Aug. 23 of that year after being shot down near Hanoi. He remained in captivity for 2,031 days before being released as part of Operation Homecoming on March 14, 1973.
“I believe that my faith in God was the one driving motive that kept me, and I am sure, a lot of us, going,” Sawhill said on the POW network website. “I believe that the great group of guys that we had together in Hanoi sustained each other and themselves in a manner which permitted us to come out of Hanoi in as good shape as we were or are.”
Sawhill endured mental and physical cruelties from his captors in an attempt to gain vital military information, but he resisted their demands.
He also received a Distinguished Flying Cross for distinguishing himself by extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight deep within unfriendly territory on Aug. 23, 1967.
Sawhill died June 26, 2009, at the age of 78.
He was nominated by Carol Dlugos, director of the Carnegie Historical Society. The society introduced the Col. Robert R. Sawhill Jr. Center of Carnegie Military Heritage in 2020.
“For 5 1/2 years, he went through hell,” said Dlugos. “He’s gotten quite a few medals here hanging on the wall. It’s going to be wonderful. He deserves it.”
Speggen served in World War II in the U.S. Army in the 5th Infantry Division, 10th Infantry, Company D. He was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action in Germany in November 1944.
He served from May 1942 until October 1945. Some of Speggen’s exploits are detailed in the book, “Against the Panzers,” which describes eight World War II battles from the perspective of the U.S. Army infantrymen who were facing German Panzers.
According to the book, during one counterattack, Speggen observed a German squad attempt a sneak flanking movement. He waited until the Germans were almost on him, then killed nine with machine gun bursts.
Speggen was nominated by his niece, Cindy Ward, who has donated Speggen’s military items to the Soldiers and Sailors Museum.
“I never dreamed he’d get chosen. I’m thrilled,” she said. “(I nominated him) because of what he did. Nobody knew. That generation did not talk about themselves. He came home and kept this to himself. I never knew any of this about him. I didn’t know he had a Silver Star awarded to him. I’m just so proud of him.”
She feels her uncle would be embarrassed by the honor.
“He wasn’t a showy guy,” she said with a laugh. “He’d probably be mad at me for nominating him.”
Speggen died Nov. 16, 1999, at the age of 80.
The induction ceremony will be live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube.
In 1963, the Hall of Valor was dedicated to honor veterans whose valor went above and beyond the call of duty. Since its inception, Soldiers & Sailors has inducted more than 700 veterans.
“The Hall of Valor induction ceremony is the epitome of our mission here at Soldiers & Sailors, to honor all veterans in all conflicts” said President and CEO John F. McCabe. “We pay tribute to these veterans in particular who, through their extraordinary contributions and selfless service, earned medals for their bravery.”