On November 20, 1944, while leading his battalion in the Hurtgen Forest near Schevenhütte, Germany, Mabry personally found a safe route through a minefield, led a group of scouts in the capture of three enemy bunkers, and then established an advantageous defensive position.

[2] While in the Canal Zone, Mabry played a significant role in establishing the US Army Jungle Warfare Training Center at Fort Sherman.

[1] Mabry was then promoted to major general and was assigned as commander of the 1st Armored Division at Fort Hood, Texas, from August to December 1965, and then as chief of the U.S. Army Evaluation Team (USAET) in Vietnam from January to April 1966.

Racing up a slope ahead of his men, he found the initial bunker deserted, then pushed on to the second where he was suddenly confronted by 9 onrushing enemy.

Accompanied by the riflemen, he charged the third bunker under pointblank small arms fire and led the way into the fortification from which he prodded 6 enemy at bayonet point.

Following the consolidation of this area, he led his battalion across 300 yards of fire-swept terrain to seize elevated ground upon which he established a defensive position which menaced the enemy on both flanks, and provided his regiment a firm foothold on the approach to the Cologne Plain.