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World War I Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient
Sergeant John Cridland Latham, US Army 107th Infantry
John C. Latham served in the United States Army during World War I as a Sergeant in the Machine Gun Company of the 107th Infantry, 27th Division. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery near Le Catelet, France, on September 29, 1918. His Medal of Honor was awarded to him in 1919. Sergeant Alan Louis Eggers was also awarded the Medal of Honor for this action, and is also interred in Arlington National Cemetery. John Latham remained in the US Army after the War, rising to Chief Warrant Officer.
CITATION:
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: Rutherford, N.J. Born: 3 March 1888, Windemere, England. G.O. No.: 20, W.D., 1919. Citation: Becoming separated from their platoon by a smoke barrage, Sgt. Latham, Sgt. Alan L. Eggers, and Cpl. Thomas E. O'Shea took cover in a shellhole 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 the sap of a nearby trench. Sgts. Latham and Eggers 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.
Courtesy of Find A Grave
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