Matej Kocak

The Marine Who Destroyed Two Machine-Gun Nests and Won Two Medals of Honor A concealed German machine-gun position had stopped the advance when Matej Kocak made the decision that would define his military career. With no covering fire, he advanced alone against the position, entered the German defenses and drove the machine-gun crew from its post with his bayonet. Later that same day, he gathered 25 French colonial soldiers who had become separated from their unit and led them against another machine-gun nest. That position was also destroyed. For his actions near Soissons on 18 July 1918, Kocak received both the Army Medal of Honor and the Navy Medal of Honor. That extraordinary day came after more than a decade of Marine Corps service. Born on 31 December 1882 in Gbely, then part of Austria-Hungary and now in Slovakia, Kocak emigrated to the United States in 1906. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 16 October 1907 and built a career that eventually carried him through several American overseas operations before the First World War. His service took him to Vera Cruz in 1914, where he served temporarily with the United States Army during the intervention in Mexico. That service qualified him for the Mexican Service Medal. He later served in the Dominican Republic in 1916, earning entitlement to the Dominican Campaign Medal. His record also included the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal. The war in France brought Kocak into some of the most severe fighting faced by the Marines. Serving with the 66th Company, 5th Regiment, 2nd Division, American Expeditionary Forces, he fought through the campaigns credited to his unit in France. His World War I Victory Medal is represented with one silver service star for five campaign credits. His gallantry during the Soissons fighting also brought him the Silver Star. Recognition for Kocak's service extended beyond the United States. France awarded him the Médaille militaire and the Croix de guerre 1914–1918 with bronze palm. Italy awarded him the Croce al Merito di Guerra. His service with the 5th Marines also connected him to the French Fourragère earned by the regiment, which is represented separately from his personal ribbon rack. Kocak did not survive the war. On 4 October 1918, less than three months after the action for which he received his two Medals of Honor, he was killed by enemy gunfire during the fighting at Blanc Mont Ridge. His death in combat also qualified him retrospectively for the Purple Heart. He is buried at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France. The scale of his decorations is remarkable, but the clearest picture of Kocak remains the one preserved in his Medal of Honor action: a Marine confronting one machine-gun position alone, then gathering scattered allied soldiers and leading them against another before the day was over.