Wilbur E. Colyer

What kind of courage does it take to walk into an ambush of enemy machine guns, capture one of those weapons, and turn it against the very soldiers trying to kill you? On October 9, 1918, near Verdun, France, Sergeant Wilbur E. Colyer did exactly that. His extraordinary actions during World War I earned him the United States Medal of Honor, but the young American soldier would not live to receive his country's highest military decoration.

Born on March 5, 1898, in Brooklyn, New York, Wilbur E. Colyer enlisted in the United States Army in 1917 as America entered the First World War. Serving with Company A, 1st Engineers, 1st Division, American Expeditionary Forces, he became part of the battle-hardened formation known as the Big Red One. His regiment participated in some of the most demanding campaigns on the Western Front, including Montdidier-Noyon, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne.

By October 1918, the war was approaching its final weeks, but the fighting remained deadly. German machine-gun positions continued to threaten advancing American troops. On October 9, Colyer volunteered alongside two fellow soldiers to locate concealed enemy machine-gun nests near Verdun. As the small party advanced, Colyer found himself almost surrounded by enemy guns positioned in ambush.

What followed was an extraordinary demonstration of battlefield initiative. Instead of withdrawing under fire, Colyer attacked one of the positions with a captured German grenade, killing its gunner. He then seized the enemy machine gun and turned it against the surrounding nests, silencing their fire before returning to his platoon. His actions neutralized a dangerous concentration of enemy weapons and demonstrated remarkable courage in the face of overwhelming danger.

Yet the most tragic chapter of Colyer's story came just one day later. On October 10, 1918, he was killed in action in France, only 20 years old. He had survived the extraordinary encounter that would make him a national hero, only to lose his life before the war's end.

For his conspicuous gallantry near Verdun, Sergeant Wilbur E. Colyer was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor under War Department General Orders No. 20, dated January 30, 1919. His official citation recounts how he volunteered to locate enemy machine-gun nests, advanced despite being nearly surrounded, killed an enemy gunner with a captured grenade, and used the captured weapon to silence the remaining positions. It concludes by recording that he was subsequently killed in action.

His World War I service is also commemorated by the World War I Victory Medal. His unit's campaign record supports five qualifying campaign clasps, represented by a silver service star: Montdidier-Noyon, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, and Defensive Sector. The 1st Engineers also received French Croix de Guerre with Palm unit citations for their wartime service, honours later associated with the regiment's French Fourragère.

Today, Sergeant Wilbur E. Colyer rests at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. His Medal of Honor is preserved at the First Division Museum at Cantigny in Wheaton, Illinois, while his story remains part of the enduring legacy of the 1st Infantry Division.

Wilbur E. Colyer never lived to see the recognition his bravery earned. But more than a century later, the story of the young American engineer who captured an enemy machine gun and silenced an ambush remains a powerful reminder that extraordinary heroism can emerge in the most desperate moments of war.