William Sawelson

Carrying water through machine-gun fire to aid a wounded man

Born in Newark, New Jersey, on August 5, 1895, William Sawelson entered the Army at Harrison during World War I. After training, he served as a supply sergeant with the 312th Infantry, 78th Division, which went to France in June 1918.

Sawelson earned the Medal of Honor for helping a wounded soldier at Grand-Pré, France, on October 26, 1918. A sergeant in Company M, 312th Infantry, 78th Division, he heard a man in a distant shell hole calling for water.

Sawelson left shelter and crawled through heavy machine-gun fire to share his canteen. He returned for more water and was killed while going back to the wounded man.

His Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously under War Department General Orders No. 16 of January 22, 1919, and presented to his father, Jacob. Sawelson is buried at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France.

Medal of Honor citation

Hearing a wounded man in a shell hole some distance away calling for water, Sgt. Sawelson, upon his own initiative, left shelter and crawled through heavy machine-gun fire to where the man lay, giving him what water he had in his canteen. He then went back to his own shell hole, obtained more water, and was returning to the wounded man when he was killed by a machine-gun bullet.