James I. Mestrovitch

He crawled through shell fire to save his wounded commander.

James I. Mestrovitch served as a sergeant in Company C, 111th Infantry, 28th Division. At Fismette, France, on August 10, 1918, he left shelter behind a stone wall and crawled through machine-gun and shell fire to his wounded company commander. Carrying the officer on his back, he reached safety and administered first aid, saving the commander’s life.

Born on May 22, 1894, Mestrovitch died in France on November 4, 1918. His Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously in 1922.

Medal of Honor citation

Seeing his company commander lying wounded 30 yards in front of the line after his company had withdrawn to a sheltered position behind a stone wall, Sgt. Mestrovitch voluntarily left cover and crawled through heavy machine-gun and shell fire to where the officer lay. He took the officer upon his back and crawled to a place of safety, where he administered first-aid treatment, his exceptional heroism saving the officer's life.