William B. Trembley

Swimming a river under fire to enable a crossing

William Beattie Trembley earned the Medal of Honor at Calumpit, Luzon, on April 27, 1899. A private in Company B, 20th Kansas Volunteer Infantry, he swam the Rio Grande de Pampanga under enemy fire during the Philippine-American War.

Trembley fastened a rope at the occupied trenches, allowing American troops to cross the river and drive the defenders from their fortified position.

Born in Kansas in 1877, Trembley later became a lawyer. He returned to military service as a commissioned officer during the First World War and served in France as a machine-gun instructor with the 332nd Machine Gun Battalion. He later attained the rank of major. His Medal of Honor was presented on March 11, 1902. He died in Pharr, Texas, on January 13, 1952, and is buried at Monticello Methodist Church Cemetery in Olathe, Kansas.

Medal of Honor citation

Swam the Rio Grande de Pampanga in the face of the enemy's fire and fastened a rope to the occupied trenches, thereby enabling the crossing of the river and the driving of the enemy from his fortified position.