Medal of Honor: Harold A. Furlong – World War I – November 1, 1918

Name: Harold A. Furlong
Rank: First Lieutenant
War: World War I
Date of Action: November 1, 1918
Unit: 353rd Infantry Regiment, 89th Division
Entered Service At: Detroit, Michigan
Born: Pontiac, Michigan

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Summary of Action

In the final push of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, American troops fought to break the last German defenses near the Bois-de-Bantheville. When Lieutenant Harold A. Furlong’s company was pinned down by withering machine-gun fire that killed the commander and several men, Furlong refused to wait for relief.

With calm precision and unshakable resolve, he rose and sprinted across several hundred yards of open ground swept by enemy fire. Crawling, firing, and maneuvering behind the enemy’s gun line, he attacked each machine-gun nest in turn — killing several gunners himself and forcing the rest to flee. His audacious, one-man assault broke the German strongpoint, saving countless lives and allowing the American line to surge forward.

Furlong’s fearless advance through deadly fire turned a stalled attack into a victory, embodying the courage and initiative that defined the American Expeditionary Forces in the Great War.

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Medal of Honor Citation

Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 353d Infantry, 89th Division.
Place and date: Near Bantheville, France, 1 November 1918.
Entered service at: Detroit, Mich.
Birth: Pontiac, Mich.
G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919.

Citation:
Immediately after the opening of the attack in the Bois-de-Bantheville, when his company was held up by severe machinegun fire from the front, which killed his company commander and several soldiers, 1st Lt. Furlong moved out in advance of the line with great courage and coolness, crossing an open space several hundred yards wide. Taking up a position behind the line of the machineguns, he closed in on them, one at a time, killing a number of the enemy with his rifle and putting the remainder to flight.