b. 31/03/1919 Ashland, Alabama. d. 12/12/1977 ?
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 18/03/1945 near Nieder Wurzbach, Germany.
Jack L Treadwell MOH
Treadwell was born in Ashland, Alabama, in March 1919, but his family moved to Snyder, Oklahoma, a few years later. He graduated high school in 1937 and went to college for a year before enlisting in the Army in January 1941.
He received a battlefield commission on March 23, 1944, after participating in the amphibious assault on Sicily in July 1943 and Salerno in September 1943 and the Battle of Anzio.
On March 18, 1945, a 25-year-old Treadwell found himself in the 45th Infantry Division commanding F Company near Nieder-Wurzbach, Germany. His unit was pinned down by heavy fire and artillery at the base of a hill along the Siegfried Line, which consisted of interlocking trenches and concrete bunkers known as pillboxes.
After eight soldiers were gunned down trying to attack a single point, Treadwell decided to clear a path for his company — alone.
Armed with a submachine gun and hand grenades, Treadwell pushed forward over the terrain, which offered no cover from the hail of gunfire coming his way. He fired at the tiny opening in the first pillbox and launched grenades at it. When he got close enough, he shoved his muzzle inside, forcing four Germans to surrender. A fifth was found dead inside.
After sending those prisoners back to the American line, Treadwell continued on through an onslaught of gunfire to the next pillbox, where he did the exact same thing — even capturing the commander of that defensive position. That caused confusion and havoc among the ranks of the Germans, who continued to aim machine gun and sniper fire in his direction. But the lieutenant continued his whirlwind of assaults and took four more pillboxes.
Treadwell’s intensity inspired his men, who stormed after him and overwhelmed the rest of the Germans on the hillside. Their successes drove a wedge into the Siegfried Line, making it possible for their battalion to take its objective.
Treadwell faced impossible odds when he chose to charge those pillboxes alone, but he did it anyway. That bravery and selflessness vastly helped the Allied cause, and it earned him the Medal of Honor, which he received — as a newly minted captain — from President Harry Truman on September 14, 1945.
By the end of the war, he had taken part in eight major campaigns with the 45th ID. He continued his Army career for nearly 30 more years while earning a college degree in between. During Vietnam, Treadwell was the chief of staff of the 23rd Infantry Division and eventually commanded the 11th Infantry Brigade. He retired as a colonel in February 1974.
Treadwell died at age 58 on Dec. 12, 1977, from open-heart surgery complications.
MOH CITATION:
Capt. Treadwell (then 1st Lt.), commanding officer of Company F, near Nieder-Wurzbach, Germany, in the Siegfried line, singlehandedly captured six pillboxes and 18 prisoners. Murderous enemy automatic and rifle fire with intermittent artillery bombardments had pinned down his company for hours at the base of a hill defended by concrete fortifications and interlocking trenches. Eight men sent to attack a single point had all become casualties on the bare slope when Capt. Treadwell, armed with a submachine gun and hand grenades, went forward alone to clear the way for his stalled company. Over the terrain devoid of cover and swept by bullets, he fearlessly advanced, firing at the aperture of the nearest pillbox and, when within range, hurling grenades at it. He reached the pillbox, thrust the muzzle of his gun through the port, and drove four Germans out with their hands in the air. A fifth was found dead inside. Waving these prisoners back to the American lines, he continued under terrible, concentrated fire to the next pillbox and took it in the same manner. In this fort he captured the commander of the hill defenses, whom he sent to the rear with the other prisoners. Never slackening his attack, he then ran across the crest of the hill to a third pillbox, traversing this distance in full view of hostile machine gunners and snipers. He was again successful in taking the enemy position. The Germans quickly fell prey to his further rushes on three more pillboxes in the confusion and havoc caused by his whirlwind assaults and capture of their commander. Inspired by the electrifying performance of their leader, the men of Company F stormed after him and overwhelmed resistance on the entire hill, driving a wedge into the Siegfried line and making it possible for their battalion to take its objective. By his courageous willingness to face nearly impossible odds and by his overwhelming one-man offensive, Capt. Treadwell reduced a heavily fortified, seemingly impregnable enemy sector.
BURIAL LOCATION: FORT SILL POST CEMETERY, FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA.
SECTION XII, GRAVE 8.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: THE 45TH INFANTRY DIVISION MUSEUM, OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA.
