David B. Barkley

He swam the Meuse for vital intelligence and never returned.

David Bennes Barkley, also recorded as Barkeley, was born in Laredo, Texas, and was the son of a Mexican-American mother. He enlisted in the United States Army during the First World War and served in Company A, 356th Infantry Regiment, 89th Division.

On 9 November 1918 near Pouilly, France, Barkley and another soldier volunteered to cross the Meuse and reconnoitre German positions. They entered the river, reached the opposite bank and obtained information about the enemy’s disposition. On the return crossing Barkley became exhausted and drowned. His companion reached the American lines with the intelligence, only two days before the Armistice.

Barkley received the Medal of Honor posthumously for accepting the dangerous mission. His body was returned to Texas and he was buried at San Antonio National Cemetery. Later remembrance brought wider recognition of his Mexican-American heritage. Military installations and civic memorials preserve the name of a young soldier whose final contribution was intelligence brought back by his surviving comrade.