In 1942, he enlisted in the Coast Guard. His outfit put troops ashore on Sicily and at Salerno, behind Japanese lines in Burma and in Normandy on D-Day. Transporting infantrymen to the beaches and watching them die there wasn't real fighting, as far as Lew was concerned. He agonized. Here's what he told sportswriter Heinz years later: "There'd be men with their legs blown off, and there'd be men with their sides blown open, and they wouldn't say a word. There wasn't one of them let out a moan, and I hid my head in my hands and I cried."He had a few fights after the war, but he couldn't shake his sense of guilt that he had been a mere spectator to the real fight, World War II. In 1950, he enlisted in the Army, and when the Korean War broke out he found himself in the thick of it. His courage under fire and his leadership resulted in a Silver Star.
It speaks volume to the kind of man who is not only a tough guy in boxing but the kind of man who would give his life is asked for god and country where being a world class boxer and a ATG means nothing
Exactly!!!. I wish there was more reading material on him besides the old book with all the short interviews. My memorie fails me again even though I own it. Thanks again for posting my man!. This is real heroism were talking about!
Lew Jenkins is not forgotten for his service to his country. http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ljenkins.htm
There's a biography about Lew Jenkins due out late 2018 to be published by Rowman & Littlefield, titled From Boxing Ring to Battlefield: The Life of War Hero Lew Jenkins. Should be November timeframe, maybe we can generate some buzz about it in this forum-a true American hero who overcame earlier transgressions.
Theres a good 8 page interview with him in his on words in In This Corner by Peter Heller. He doesn't talk about WW2 buit does talk about Korea where he was cut off behind enemy lines. He was in the infantry and everyone in his unit but him was killed. He said it turned his life round. In Heller's intro it says he was decorated for gallantry after being credited for saving the lives of many of his fellow soldiers. He made the army his career after that retiring in 1963 as a first sergeant.
Jenkins helped a whole trapped American battalion escape on Bloody Ridge with Medal of Honor Recipient Ronald E. Rosser. I have read the Heller book and chapter on him. He possibly had the hardest punch ever for a lightweight but was a better soldier. He went from the poorest, being raised in Depression Era Texas; to lightweight title; alcoholic; WWII including D-Day; back to the boxing ring; Silver Star for Korean War; finally, a family man after 20 years in the armed services.
