George H. Wanton

He went ashore under fire to rescue wounded comrades

George Henry Wanton was born in Paterson, New Jersey, on 15 May 1868. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1884 and served four years. In 1889 he joined Troop M of the 10th U.S. Cavalry, one of the Army's Buffalo Soldier regiments.

During the Spanish-American War, Wanton was assigned to a mission to assist Cuban independence fighters. On 30 June 1898, an attempted landing near Tayabacoa came under fire and several wounded men were left ashore when the landing party withdrew. Wanton volunteered to return with four other men after earlier rescue attempts had failed. The party brought the wounded back to the transport, and Wanton received the Medal of Honor on 23 June 1899.

Wanton left the Army when his enlistment ended and later returned to service. He reenlisted in the 10th Cavalry in 1909 at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont, and took part in the Mexican Punitive Expedition in 1916–17. He remained in the Army during the First World War and retired in 1925 as a master sergeant in the Quartermaster Department.

Wanton was an honorary pallbearer at the burial of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington in 1921. He died in Washington, D.C., in November 1940 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Medal of Honor citation

Voluntarily went ashore in the face of the enemy and aided in the rescue of his wounded comrades; this after several previous attempts at rescue had been frustrated.