Medal of Honor: Harold W. Roberts, World War I, October 4, 1918

Name: Harold W. Roberts
Rank: Corporal
War: World War I
Date of Action: October 4, 1918
Unit: Company A, 344th Battalion, Tank Corps
Accredited to: San Francisco, California
Born: San Francisco, California

Summary of Action
In the chaos of battle within the Montrebeau Woods, France, Corporal Harold Roberts maneuvered his tank to shield another vehicle that had been disabled under enemy fire. As he steered into a patch of brush for cover, the tank suddenly slid into a deep, shell-blasted crater filled with water—ten feet down and quickly submerging. With precious seconds to act, Roberts realized that only one man could escape the flooding interior. Turning to his gunner, he simply said, “Well, only one of us can get out, and out you go.” Forcing the other man through the rear door to safety, Roberts stayed behind as the tank filled and sank. His selfless act cost him his life, but saved his comrade’s—an ultimate testament to duty, courage, and comradeship in the brutal mechanized warfare of the Great War.

Medal of Honor Citation
ROBERTS, HAROLD W.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company A, 344th Battalion, Tank Corps. Place and date: In the Montrebeau Woods, France, 4 October 1918. Entered service at: San Francisco, Calif. Birth: San Francisco, Calif. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: Cpl. Roberts, a tank driver, was moving his tank into a clump of bushes to afford protection to another tank which had become disabled. The tank slid into a shell hole, 10 feet deep, filled with water, and was immediately submerged. Knowing that only 1 of the 2 men in the tank could escape, Cpl. Roberts said to the gunner, “Well, only one of us can get out, and out you go,” whereupon he pushed his companion through the back door of the tank and was himself drowned.