Years of service 1917 - 1919 Died February 5, 1979 | Name Reidar Waaler | |
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Born February 12, 1894Norway ( 1894-02-12 ) Place of burial Forest Hills Memorial Park and Mausoleum Palm City, Florida | ||
Reidar Waaler (February 12, 1894 – February 5, 1979) was a soldier in the United States Army who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during World War I.
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Biography
Waaler was born in Norway on February 12, 1894 and died February 5, 1979. He is buried in Forest Hills Memorial Park and Mausoleum Palm City, Florida. His grave can be found in the NEAGS section, row A, lot 5.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 105th Machine-Gun Battalion, 27th Division. Place and date: Near Ronssoy, France, 27 September 1918. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Norway. G.O. No.. 5, W.D., 1920.
Citation:
In the face of heavy artillery and machinegun fire, he crawled forward to a burning British tank, in which some of the crew were imprisoned, and succeeded in rescuing 2 men. Although the tank was then burning fiercely and contained ammunition which was likely to explode at any time, this soldier immediately returned to the tank and, entering it, made a search for the other occupants, remaining until he satisfied himself that there were no more living men in the tank.