Samuel M. Sampler (January 27, 1895 – November 19, 1979) was a

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 ...

soldier who received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

for his actions during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Biography

Born on January 27, 1895, in

Decatur, Texas Decatur is the county seat of Wise County, Texas, United States. Its population was 6,538 in 2020. History Wise County was established in 1856, and Taylorsville (in honor of Zachary Taylor) was made the county seat. Absalom Bishop, an early s ...

, Sampler was raised in

Audubon, New Jersey Audubon is a borough in Camden County, in the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 8,707, a decrease of 112 (−1.3%) from the 2010 census count of 8,819, which i ...

.Staff
"Audubon school district prides itself on tradition"
''

Courier Post The ''Courier-Post'' is a morning daily newspaper that serves South Jersey in the Delaware Valley. It is based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and serves most of Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties. The paper has 30,313 daily paid subscri ...

'', September 25, 2003. Accessed May 30, 2013. "Today's students know the stories of Edward C. Benfold and Nelson Brittin, heroes killed in the Korean War who have naval ships named after them, and Samuel M. Sampler, who served during World War I." He enlisted in the Army from

Altus, Oklahoma Altus () is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 18,729 at the 2020 census. Altus is home to Altus Air Force Base, the United States Air Force training base for C-17, KC-46 and KC-135 ...

, and served in Europe as a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

with Company H of the 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Division. During an attack near Saint-Étienne-à-Arnes, France, on October 8, 1918, his company's advance was halted and they took heavy casualties from a German machine gun nest. Sampler single-handedly charged the hostile position and silenced it with hand grenades, killing two German soldiers and capturing 28. For this action, he was awarded the

the next year, in 1919. Sampler's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

His company having suffered severe casualties during an advance under machinegun fire, was finally stopped. Cpl. Sampler detected the position of the enemy machineguns on an elevation. Armed with German handgrenades, which he had picked up, he left the line and rushed forward in the face of heavy fire until he was near the hostile nest, where he grenaded the position. His third grenade landed among the enemy, killing 2, silencing the machineguns, and causing the surrender of 28 Germans, whom he sent to the rear as prisoners. As a result of his act the company was immediately enabled to resume the advance.

Sampler died at age 84 on November 19, 1979, and was buried at Fort Myers Memorial Gardens in

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sampler, Samuel M. 1895 births 1979 deaths United States Army Medal of Honor recipients United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of World War I People from Audubon, New Jersey People from Decatur, Texas World War I recipients of the Medal of Honor Military personnel from Texas

Biography

See also

References

External links