EGGERS, ALAN LOUIS - Medal of Honor Recipient
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Machine Gun Company, 107th
Infantry, 27th Division. Place and date: Near Le Catelet, France, 29 September
1918. Entered service at: Summit, N.J. Birth: Saranac Lake, N.Y. G.O. No.:
20, W.D., 1919. Citation: Becoming separated from their platoon by a smoke
barrage, Sgt. Eggers, Sgt. John C. Latham and Cpl. Thomas E. O'Shea took
cover in a shell hole well within the enemy's lines. Upon hearing a call
for help from an American tank, which had become disabled 30 yards from
them, the 3 soldiers left their shelter and started toward the tank, under
heavy fire from German machineguns and trench mortars. In crossing the
fire-swept area Cpl. O'Shea was mortally wounded, but his companions, undeterred,
proceeded to the tank, rescued a wounded officer, and assisted 2 wounded
soldiers to cover in a sap of a nearby trench. Sgt. Eggers and Sgt. Latham
then returned to the tank in the face of the violent fire, dismounted a
Hotchkiss gun, and took it back to where the wounded men were, keeping
off the enemy all day by effective use of the gun and later bringing it,
with the wounded men, back to our lines under cover of darkness.
This data was extracted from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. Senate, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863-1973 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1973)
Browse Records by Era / War / Subject |
