b. 02/11/1890 Providence, South Carolina. d. 12/10/1918 Vaux-Andigny, France.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 12/10/1918 Vaux-Andigny, France.
James D Heriot MOH
Heriot was born in Spring Hill, South Carolina on November 2, 1890. He joined the US Army following the US entry into World War I in April 1917 and following his recruit and combat training, he was sent to the Western Front in France.
On October 12, 1918, he was killed in action while charging the second of two enemy machine gun nests. For these actions he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The medal was presented to his mother by US Army Major General Henry G. Sharpe at the home of Mrs. T.H. Abbott, Sumter, Scout Carolina, on February 22, 1919.
MOH CITATION:
Cpl. Heriot, with four other soldiers, organized a combat group and attacked an enemy machine-gun nest which had been inflicting heavy casualties on his company. In the advance two of his men were killed, and because of the heavy fire from all sides the remaining two sought shelter. Unmindful of the hazard attached to his mission, Cpl. Heriot, with fixed bayonet, alone charged the machine gun, making his way through the fire for a distance of 30 yards and forcing the enemy to surrender. During this exploit he received several wounds in the arm, and later in the same day, while charging another nest, he was killed.
BURIAL LOCATION: REMBERT METHODIST CHURCH CEMETERY, WOODROW, SOUTH CAROLINA.
FRONT ROW.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: CAMDEN ARCHIVES & MUSEUM, CAMDEN, SOUTH CAROLINA.
