Samuel M. Sampler (January 27, 1895 – November 19, 1979) was a
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
soldier who received the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
for his actions during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Biography
Born on January 27, 1895, in
Decatur, Texas
Decatur is the county seat of Wise County, Texas, United States. Its population was 6,538 in 2020.
History
Wise County was established in 1856, and Taylorsville (in honor of Zachary Taylor) was made the county seat.
Absalom Bishop, an early sett ...
, Sampler was raised in
Audubon, New Jersey
Audubon is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the borough's population was 8,819,"Audubon school district prides itself on tradition" ''
Courier Post
The ''Courier-Post'' is a morning daily newspaper that serves South Jersey in the Delaware Valley. It is based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and serves most of Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties. The paper has 30,313 daily paid subscriber ...
'', September 25, 2003. Accessed May 30, 2013. "Today's students know the stories of Edward C. Benfold and Nelson Brittin, heroes killed in the Korean War who have naval ships named after them, and Samuel M. Sampler, who served during World War I." He enlisted in the Army from
Altus, Oklahoma
Altus () is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,813 at the 2010 census, a loss of 7.7 percent compared to 21,454 in 2000.
Altus is home to Altus Air Force Base, the United States Air F ...
, and served in Europe as a
corporal
Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...
with Company H of the
142nd Infantry Regiment
Fourteen or 14 may refer to:
* 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15
* one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014
Music
* 14th (band), a British electronic music duo
* ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013
*''14'', an unrel ...
Saint-Étienne-à-Arnes
Saint-Étienne-à-Arnes is a commune in the Ardennes department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Ardennes department
The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes department of ...
, France, on October 8, 1918, his company's advance was halted and they took heavy casualties from a German machine gun nest. Sampler single-handedly charged the hostile position and silenced it with hand grenades, killing two German soldiers and capturing 28. For this action, he was awarded the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
the next year, in 1919.
Sampler's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
His company having suffered severe casualties during an advance under machinegun fire, was finally stopped. Cpl. Sampler detected the position of the enemy machineguns on an elevation. Armed with German handgrenades, which he had picked up, he left the line and rushed forward in the face of heavy fire until he was near the hostile nest, where he grenaded the position. His third grenade landed among the enemy, killing 2, silencing the machineguns, and causing the surrender of 28 Germans, whom he sent to the rear as prisoners. As a result of his act the company was immediately enabled to resume the advance.
Sampler died at age 84 on November 19, 1979, and was buried at Fort Myers Memorial Gardens in
Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...
.
See also
*
List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War I
World War I (also known as the First World War and the Great War) was a global military conflict that embroiled most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Entente and the Central Powers. The immediate cause of the ...