b. 05/03/1898 Brooklyn, New York. d. 10/10/1918 Verdun, France.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 09/10/1918 Verdun, France.
Wilbur E Colyer MOH
World War I Medal of Honor Recipient. He received the award posthumously on January 30, 1919 for his actions as a sergeant in Company A, 1st Engineers, 1st Division, on October 9, 1918 near Verdun, France. He also received the World War I Victory Medal (with one silver star). His citation reads: “Volunteering with 2 other soldiers to locate machinegun nests, Sgt. Colyer advanced on the hostile positions to a point where he was half surrounded by the nests, which were in ambush. He killed the gunner of one gun with a captured German grenade and then turned this gun on the other nests silencing all of them before he returned to his platoon. He was later killed in action”.
MOH CITATION:
Volunteering with 2 other soldiers to locate machinegun nests, Sgt. Colyer advanced on the hostile positions to a point where he was half surrounded by the nests, which were in ambush. He killed the gunner of one gun with a captured German grenade and then turned this gun on the other nests silencing all of them before he returned to his platoon. He was later killed in action.
BURIAL LOCATION: CYPRESS HILLS NATIONAL CEMETERY, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.
SECTION 2, GRAVE 8588
LOCATION OF MEDAL: 1ST INFANTRY DIVISION MUSEUM AT CANTIGNY, WHEATON, ILLINOIS.
