Battles/wars World War I Battles and wars World War I | Awards Medal of Honor Name Richard O'Neill Rank Sergeant | |
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Born August 28, 1898
New York City, New York ( 1898-08-28 ) Place of burial Gate of Heaven Cemetery Hawthorne, New York Allegiance United States of America Died April 9, 1982, Hawthorne, Mount Pleasant, New York, United States Similar People Donald Russell Long, Beauford T Anderson, Darrell R Lindsey, Walter E Truemper, Carlton W Barrett | ||
Service/branch United States Army | ||
Richard William O'Neill (August 28, 1898 – April 9, 1982) 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
O'Neill was born in New York City, New York on August 28, 1898 and died April 9, 1982. He is buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery Hawthorne, New York.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company D, 165th Infantry, 42d Division. Place and date: On the Ourcq River, France, 30 July 1918. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: New York, N.Y. G.O. No.: 30, W.D., 1921.
Citation:
In advance of an assaulting line, he attacked a detachment of about 25 of the enemy. In the ensuing hand-to-hand encounter he sustained pistol wounds, but heroically continued in the advance, during which he received additional wounds: but, with great physical effort, he remained in active command of his detachment. Being again wounded, he was forced by weakness and loss of blood to be evacuated, but insisted upon being taken first to the battalion commander in order to transmit to him valuable information relative to enemy positions and the disposition of our men.