Chester H. West

He rushed two machine-gun nests and opened the way in France

Chester Howard West was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, on 3 January 1888. He enlisted in the United States Army at Los Baños, California, on 20 September 1917, and became a first sergeant in Company D, 363rd Infantry Regiment, 91st Division. The division served with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. In September 1918, its infantry began the Meuse-Argonne campaign, a major Allied offensive intended to break German defenses and push toward the Meuse River.

On 26 September, West’s automatic-rifle section moved through thick fog near Bois-de-Cheppy. Two German machine guns halted the company’s advance with direct fire. West left the section and dashed toward the gun positions alone. In the ensuing hand-to-hand fighting, he killed two gunners, one an officer. His action silenced the immediate resistance and allowed the company to advance farther without losing a man. The War Department recognized his extraordinary bravery with the Medal of Honor in General Orders No. 34 of 1919.

West returned to civilian life after the war and was honorably discharged on 29 April 1919. He later lived in Mason County, West Virginia, where he worked as a farmhand. He married Margaret Van Sickle in 1932. West died in a hospital in Gallipolis, Ohio, on 20 May 1935, after being fatally shot by his employer, Sam McCausland, in West Virginia. Contemporary reporting and later accounts describe the shooting, but the precise circumstances of the dispute remain uncertain.

West was first buried in Van Sickle Cemetery. In 2018, after a state court decision authorizing reinterment, his remains were moved to the Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery in Institute, West Virginia. His Medal of Honor citation documents the decisive action that helped his company continue its advance in the opening phase of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

Medal of Honor citation

“While making his way through a thick fog with his automatic rifle section, his advance was halted by direct and unusual machinegun fire from 2 guns. Without aid, he at once dashed through the fire and, attacking the nest, killed 2 of the gunners, 1 of whom was an officer. This prompt and decisive hand-to-hand encounter on his part enabled his company to advance farther without the loss of a man.”

Sources

1. U.S. War Department, General Orders No. 34, 1919, as transcribed in the U.S. Army’s “World War I Medal of Honor Recipients, Citations,” entry for Chester H. West. 2. Congressional Medal of Honor Society, “Chester Howard West,” recipient record. 3. William Plants, “Chester West,” e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, revised 14 February 2024.