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Sergeant United States Marine Corps
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Sergeant United States Marine Corps
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CITATION
(NAVY) 66th Company, 5th Regiment. DOB 1 May 1888, Sebenes, Austria. Accredited to: Minnesota. For extraordinary
heroism
while serving with the 66th Company, 5th Regiment, during action in the
Forest de Retz, near Viller-Cottertes, France, 18 Jul 1918. Sgt. Cukela
advanced alone against an enemy strong point that was holding up his
line.
Disregarding the warnings of his comrades, he crawled out from the
flank
in the face of heavy fire and worked his way to the rear of the enemy
position.
Rushing a machinegun emplacement, he killed or drove off the crew with
his bayonet, bombed out the remaining part of the strong point with
German
handgrenades and captured 2 machineguns and 4 men.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- CITATION
(ARMY)U.S. Marine Corps 66th Company, 5th Regiment July 18, 1918 Citation: When his company, advancing through a wood, met with strong resistance from an enemy strong point, Sergeant 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 machine-gun emplacement, killing or driving off the crew with his bayonet. With German hand grenades he then bombed out the remaining portion of the strong point, capturing four men and two damaged machine guns.--------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Sergeant Cukela is one
of five Marines
to receive the Navy and Army Medal of Honor in World War one for the
same incident. It is no
longer possible to receive two Medals of Honor for a single incident.
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