Medal of Honor: Edward A. Silk – World War II – November 23, 1944

Name: Edward Allen Silk
Rank: First Lieutenant
Organization: U.S. Army
Unit: Company E, 398th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division
Place and Date: Near St. Pravel, France – 23 November 1944
Entered Service At: Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Born: June 8, 1916 – Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Departed: Killed in Action, December 1944
Accredited To: Pennsylvania

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Summary of Action

On November 23, 1944, the 100th Infantry Division prepared to seize the high ground overlooking Moyenmoutier, France. As Company E pushed through the woods near St. Pravel, German machine-gun fire erupted from a farmhouse dominating the valley. A pinned-down squad could not advance, and every attempt to suppress the enemy was met with relentless fire.

First Lieutenant Edward A. Silk decided to end the fight himself.

He sprinted 100 yards across open terrain to a stone wall directly in front of the farmhouse, firing his carbine into the windows as enemy bullets tore the ground around him. Vaulting the wall, he dashed another 50 yards under fire, reached the house’s flank, and hurled a grenade through a window — killing two machine gunners.

Moving to outflank the position, he drew fire from a second machine gun hidden in a woodshed. Without hesitation, Silk charged the shed and silenced the weapon with grenades, killing both gunners.

Out of explosives but refusing to stop, Silk returned to the farmhouse, picked up rocks, and threw them through the windows while shouting for the enemy to surrender. Confused and convinced they were surrounded by a larger force, twelve German soldiers surrendered to him — a single American officer.

Silk’s fearless one-man assault allowed the battalion to resume its advance and seize its critical objective.

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Medal of Honor Citation

1st Lt. Edward A. Silk commanded the weapons platoon of Company E, 398th Infantry, on 23 November 1944, when the 2d Battalion was assigned the mission of seizing high ground overlooking Moyenmoutier, France, prior to an attack on the city itself. His company jumped off in the lead at dawn and by noon had reached the edge of a woods in the vicinity of St. Pravel where scouts saw an enemy sentry standing guard before a farmhouse in a valley below. One squad, engaged in reconnoitering the area, was immediately pinned down by intense machinegun and automatic-weapons fire from within the house. Skillfully deploying his light machinegun section, 1st Lt. Silk answered enemy fire, but when 15 minutes had elapsed with no slackening of resistance, he decided to eliminate the strong point by a one-man attack. Running 100 yards across an open field to the shelter of a low stone wall directly in front of the farmhouse, he fired into the door and windows with his carbine; then, in full view of the enemy, vaulted the wall and dashed 50 yards through a hail of bullets to the left side of the house, where he hurled a grenade through a window, silencing a machinegun and killing 2 gunners. In attempting to move to the right side of the house he drew fire from a second machinegun emplaced in the woodshed. With magnificent courage he rushed this position in the face of direct fire and succeeded in neutralizing the weapon and killing the 2 gunners by throwing grenades into the structure. His supply of grenades was by now exhausted, but undaunted, he dashed back to the side of the farmhouse and began to throw rocks through a window, demanding the surrender of the remaining enemy. Twelve Germans, overcome by his relentless assault and confused by his unorthodox methods, gave up to the lone American. By his gallant willingness to assume the full burden of the attack and the intrepidity with which he carried out his extremely hazardous mission, 1st Lt. Silk enabled his battalion to continue its advance and seize its objective.