Lieutenant Colonel Hampton Halley Lisle
Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster / Bronze Star / 2 orders Croix de Guirre
Hampton Halley Lisle, born in 1906, was raised in Quemado NM before entering NMAMC in the fall of 1924. He was an honor student, graduating as Salutatorian of his class with a degree in Electrical Engineering in May 1928. While enrolled at NMAMC he played tennis and was elected president for both his junior and senior class. During the spring semester of his senior year he married Laura Louise Frenger. Laura was also a student at NMAMC, the daughter of George Frenger and niece of Numa Frenger. After graduation the family first lived in Schenectady NY where he worked as an engineer for GE. During the great depression they moved to New York where he oversaw three CCC camps and eventually made their way to Georgia where he worked for the Federal Power Commission. During this time they had three children, Halley 3rd, George and Frank. A reserve officer, he was called to active duty in February 1941 and assigned to the 2nd Armored Group as it began offensive operations across North Africa and eventually into Sicily and Italy. He received numerous awards for bravery including a bronze star for action in the Battle for Emperia Italy and his first Silver Star for extraordinary bravery in scouting out a suitable site for the crossing of the La Foce River in Italy.
In January of 1945, at Montecatini, Italy four Anti Aircraft Battalions were reconstituted to form the 473rd Regimental Combat Team. Lt Col Lisle was given command of the 2nd Battalion of the 473rd IR made up of the 532nd Anti Aircraft Battalion. On the 23rd of February the 473rd was officially attached to the 92nd Infantry Division (Buffalo). The 473rd Infantry moved into the line on the night of 15 February. On the 5th of April, 1945, the 92nd Division jumped off at dawn after a heavy artillery preparation in the first phase of the Fifth Army’s long awaited spring offensive.
Colonel Lisle’s 2nd Battalion was in division reserve on the 5th and 6th of April. On the 7th it passed through the 370th Infantry and was committed against Strettoia Hill mass which dominated Highway 1. This was a well-entrenched position which anchored the enemy’s Gothic Line in the coastal sector. The enemy had excellent fields of fire and maximum observation. Artillery and mortar fires were poured against the hillsides in thundering barrages and the enemy replied in kind. The only way to take the hill was for infantry to root through each concreted and revetted foxhole, and that is what the 2nd Battalion of the 473rd did. Lt. Col. Lisle was constantly with his forward troops in the heavy fighting of the Strettoia hills, giving orders, advice and encouragement which greatly contributed to the winning of the battle. He was in a small gap between E and F companies during the process of taking the last objective when a fatal round of enemy mortar killed him. For his actions in this effort he was posthumously awarded his second Silver Star. Lt Col Halley Hampton Lisle is buried at the Florence American Cemetery in Italy. He was 35 years of age at the time of his death.
Prime source: FLAKFEET, History of the 473rd US Inf Regt, Vol. 1 and 2, by Marcello Bia