Combat fan, Tango 49, found the following about actor, Ted Knight, guest star in Combat! episodes "Cat and Mouse", "The Volunteer", "Weep No More" and "The Brothers".

www.marytylermooreshow.simplenet.com/tedfact

"He was born Tadeus Wladyslaw Konopka in Terryville, CT on December 7, 1923. He served in World War II, and legend has it that he was the second most decorated WWII veteran."

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Nancy's Question: I wonder if Ted's family originally came from a German-occupied country? If the answer is yes, then I wonder if that fact had something to do with his personal motivations, determination and bravery under fire?

By Nancy LionStorm (349hvywpnscrew) on Unrecorded Date:

Other sites about Ted that mention his WWII experiences are:


http://lostchord.res.cmu.edu/TedKnight/hisdeath/bp_860827_we.html
http://lostchord.res.cmu.edu/TedKnight/hisdeath/bp_860903_we.html

By Dana Eugene Creasy (Deecee322) on Unrecorded Date:

From what I have found in research, Ted was a Combat Engineer and thus found himself in one of the early units to enter Berlin AFTER the Russians had secured it. Remember, Eisenhower declared Berlin to be merely a "prestige objective" and cancelled plans to airdrop the 82nd Airborne onto Tempelhof Airfield, leaving the taking of Berlin to our Soviet allies. As far as Knight's "bronze stars", they actually were "battle stars" awarded for campaign participation and added to the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Medal (EAM). My father, who served with Third Army as a Machine Gunner T/5, had five battle stars for his EAM medal. This is not taking anything away from the late Mr. Knight. But battle stars did not signify any particular individual act of bravery or conspicuous gallantry under fire, those acts were rewarded by medals such as the Soldier's Medal, the Bronze Star (first awarded in 1944) or the Silver Star and, of course, higher awards, such as the Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Cross and Medal of Honor. Of the various obits, including those in the entertainment business (of which I work) I checked, I find no mention of any particular awards for gallantry, although it is is possible he did earn some. As an aside, another guest star, the late Neville Brand, was in fact the fifth most decorated soldier in the Army during the war. He was the sergeant who cared more for his pigeons than Saunder's squad in one episode.