When I wrote “Cove GIANTS of the 20th Century” in 1999, I tried to identify those people who were credited with significant achievements during those 100 years.

In the Military category was Cpl. Harry Harr of Claysburg, who was awarded the Medal of Honor during WWII.

I was unaware that Staff Sergeant Glenn H. English Jr. of Williamsburg received the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. And the supremely talented historian Bill Cramer of Williamsburg, whom I consulted closely, did not mention English’s award.

I can only attribute this omission to the fact that English was raised in the Children’s Home of Williamsburg, an orphanage of sorts, and not in the town itself, which would have made his heroics more well known.

English was born in Blair County on April 23, 1940, and died in Vietnam on Sept. 7, 1970. From an impoverished childhood that included residency in the Blair Children’s Home at Williamsburg and education in its nearby school system, he became one of the elite soldiers in modern times to be awarded the Medal of Honor, America’s foremost combat decoration.

England’s selfless act involved smothering a North Vietnamese munition with his body so his battlefield mates could survive and continue the fight.

How Sgt. English’s heroics escaped recognition in the local area might be attributed to the fog of war and the fact that he apparently left no known family members to mourn his passing.

There was a certain mistaken perception about the boys and girls at the home. It was thought by some locals that they were assigned there because of disciplinary problems, which may have been true in a few cases. But the vast majority were the product of broken homes. Their parents were unable to provide normal family structure and asked the county to take over.

Glenn’s father, Glenn Sr., and his mother would have been found incapable of providing any nurturing and his formative years were spent at the home in Williamsburg.

I have been unable to find any internet record of his birth, parentage and early life. Mirror archives do not contain an obituary. I have been unable to find anyone who remembers interacting with him outside the Children’s Home or at Williamsburg schools. Williamsburg stalwart Don Appleman has joined me in searching for information about English.

One internet source that is highly informative is the Medal of Honor website. It lists all Glenn’s heroics in Vietnam and the location of Glenn’s grave at Alto-Reste Park in Altoona. He is also memorialized at his brigade’s home at Fort Freedom (formerly Bragg), North Carolina.

This much I can deduce about Glenn’s life in the army. He enlisted at the age of 22 (1962), gained six rapid promotions to the rank of staff sergeant when he was killed in Vietnam (1970). In those short eight years, he was only three promotions from the highest enlisted rank he could aspire to (Command Sergeant Major, E-9).

From a deprived childhood, his was an army career of unique distinction and extraordinary achievement.

If any reader has knowledge about Glenn’s time at the Blair Children’s Home and his life at Williamsburg, I can be contacted by mail at 6251 Old Dominion Drive, Apt. 138, McLean, VA 22101.

I welcome an opportunity to write about the missing pieces in Glenn English’s life.

Cove historian Jim Wentz writes a monthly column for the Mirror.