During the Korean War, three county men earned Silver Stars for gallantry in action: PFC Gene F. Riggle of the 8th Cavalry, killed near Taegu on September 3, 1950; CPL Raymond E. Heaton of the 27th Infantry, killed near Tongduchon on March 30, 1951; and SGT Floyd T. Barton, Jr., of the 21st Anti-Aircraft Artillery, the only one of the three to survive the war. LCDR Clair L. Patterson served with the Navy Medical Corps aboard the USS Consolation, the first hospital ship to be equipped with a helicopter landing pad. SGT Lawrence E. Truax of the 7th Marines fought in several major engagements, notably at Hwacheon and the Punchbowl. CAPT Carolyn E. Ferguson served in the Army Nursing Corps in Korea and Japan. CPL Fredrick R. Hoy of the 5th Rangers was the first soldier to cross the 38th parallel when Allied forces pushed the Chinese army back into North Korea in the spring of 1951.