Years of service 1917 - 1918 Battles and wars World War I Battles/wars World War I | Name Wilbur Colyer Rank Sergeant Awards Medal of Honor | |
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Born March 5, 1898
Brooklyn, New York ( 1898-03-05 ) Place of burial Cypress Hills National Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York Allegiance United States of America Died October 10, 1918, Verdun, France Unit 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Infantry Division | ||
Service/branch United States Army | ||
Wilbur E. Colyer (March 5, 1898 – October 10, 1918) was an American soldier serving in the U.S. Army during World War I who received the Medal of Honor for bravery.
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Biography
Colyer was born March 5, 1898 in Brooklyn, New York and after enlisting in the Army in 1917 was sent to France to fight in World War I. He died October 10, 1918 and is buried in Cypress Hills National Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York. His grave can be found in section 2, grave 8588.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 1st Engineers, 1st Division. Place and date: Near Verdun, France, 9 October 1918. Entered service at: South Ozone, Long Island, N.Y. Birth: Brooklyn, N.Y. G.O. No.: 20, W.D., 1919.
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.
Remembrance
On October 9, 2013, the 1st Engineer Battalion hosted a "mud run," modeled after the popular Tough Mudder, that included ruck marching, an obstacle course, and a crawl through a muddy pit. The course was named the "SGT Wilbur E. Colyer Diehard Challenge" in memory of SGT Colyer.