CUKELA, LOUIS - Medal of Honor Recipient
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, 66th Company, 5th
Regiment. Place and date: Near Villers-Cotterets, France, 18 July 1918.
Entered service at: Minneapolis, Minn. Born: 1 May 1888, Sebenes, Austria.
G.O. No.: 34, W.D., 1919. (Also received Navy Medal of Honor.) Citation:
When his company, advancing through a wood, met with strong resistance
from an enemy strong point, Sgt. Cukela crawled out from the flank and
made his way toward the German lines in the face of heavy fire, disregarding
the warnings of his comrades. He succeeded in getting behind the enemy
position and rushed a machinegun emplacement, killing or driving off the
crew with his bayonet. With German handgrenades he then bombed out the
remaining portion of the strong point, capturing 4 men and 2 damaged machineguns.
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 |
