Sterling Lewis Morelock

Five gun nests fell before he turned to helping the wounded.

Sterling Lewis Morelock was born at Silver Run, Maryland, on 5 June 1890. After his mother's death in 1912, he moved to Oquawka, Illinois, where he worked as a labourer. When the United States entered the First World War, he enlisted in the Army and was assigned to Company M, 28th Infantry, 1st Division.

Morelock served as a runner, carrying messages through a battlefield where broken telephone lines and shifting positions could isolate units from their commanders. The work already required him to cross ground exposed to artillery, snipers and machine guns. On 4 October 1918, near Exermont, he saw an opportunity to do more than carry information.

The American attack in the Meuse-Argonne was pushing into a defended German front. Morelock took three fellow runners forward as a patrol. Passing through intense fire, they entered woods occupied by German troops and attacked a succession of machine-gun positions. The resistance they encountered consisted of five nests, each containing one or more weapons.

His Medal of Honor citation records that the patrol overcame all five and held the ground until the company commander brought reinforcements. Every man in the patrol became a casualty. Morelock nevertheless administered first aid and used ten captured Germans as stretcher bearers to get injured Americans out. When his company commander was wounded, Morelock began dressing that wound as well. A bullet then struck Morelock in the hip, forcing his own evacuation (official citation transcription: https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/sterling-l-morelock).

The initiative of a small patrol helped open the way for the company's advance. For Morelock, however, the consequences continued long after the fighting. His hip wound required years of hospital treatment and eventually a steel replacement. The Medal of Honor, awarded in 1922, recognised a few hours of combat that shaped the remainder of his life.

Morelock later worked in federal service, including employment connected with the Veterans Administration, and became active in veterans' organisations. His experience of disability gave that work a personal foundation. He made his home in Pittsburgh and remained involved in the affairs of former servicemen well into later life.

He died on 1 September 1964, survived by his wife and two adopted daughters, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His story combines aggressive action at the front with the care of casualties, followed by a long civilian life lived with the physical cost of that battle.