Michael Joseph Hayes (1894 – 14 October 1918) was born in Youngstown, Ohio and was a student athlete at

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

and a

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in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

.Valor awards for Michael J. Hayes , Military Times Hall of Valor
/ref> He was killed in an attack on Saint-Juvin,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 14 October 1918 and was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Colgate

While at

, Hayes was a member of the football, hockey, and track teams. He lettered in football and track in 1916, and lettered in hockey from 1915–1917 while serving as two-time team captain. Hayes was also a member of the

Delta Upsilon Delta Upsilon (), commonly known as DU, is a collegiate men's fraternity founded on November 4, 1834, at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is the sixth-oldest, all-male, college Greek-letter organization founded in North America ...

fraternity and the Skull and Scroll secret society. There is a plaque commemorating his service in the stairwell of Huntington Gymnasium. Prior to attending Colgate, Hayes was a student at Cleveland Central High School.

Army

Hayes joined the Army in 1917 and won his commission at first officer training school in

Plattsburgh Plattsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding (and separately in ...

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. He trained at

Camp Upton Camp Upton was a port of embarkation of the United States Army during World War I. During World War II, it was used as an Army induction center, an internment camp for enemy aliens, and a hospital. It was located in Yaphank, New York, in Suffo ...

where was also a member of the football team and coach of the hockey team. In the 1918

Millrose Games The Millrose Games are an annual indoor athletics (track & field) meet held each February in New York City. Among the world's most prestigious indoor track meets, the games started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after ...

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Hayes took 1st place in the half-mile in full equipment.

Service in France

Hayes was deployed to France with the 77th Division, 306th Infantry, F Company. On 14 August 1918 he volunteered for a rescue operation into no man's land to save his company commander,

Robert P. Patterson Robert Porter Patterson Sr. (February 12, 1891 – January 22, 1952) was an American judge who served as United States Under Secretary of War, Under Secretary of War under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and US Secretary of War, U.S. Secretary of ...

. For his actions he received a citation from the Army: "On Aug 14, 1918, with great courage and coolness, he led a patrol of three men and himself to the rescue of his company commander, who was lying approximately twenty yards in front of a German machine gun post of greatly superior numbers, and with great courage and dash attacked this machine gun post, inflicting several casualties with hand grenades and rifle fire, and drew heavy fire from machine guns and somehow managed to return with his patrol to safety."

Death and posthumous award

Hayes was killed on 14 October 1918 while mounting an attack of the town of Saint-Juvin, France. Patterson later said that Hayes was "the highest type of soldier, gentleman, and American" and that Hayes' death marked the one time during the war when "no one in F Company made a secret of his sorrow". Hayes was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. An excerpt from his award reads: "In the face of direct fire from enemy machine-guns upon his platoon, disregarding his own personal safety, he went forward to reconnoiter and find cover for his men from which to continue the attack. In the performance of his courageous enterprise he was killed by machine-gun fire." Hayes is buried in Section 3, Grave 4250-NH of Arlington National Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Michael Joseph 1894 births 1918 deaths Colgate Raiders football players United States Army officers American military personnel killed in World War I Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio