Medal of Honor: Samuel M. Sampler, World War I, October 8, 1918
Pinned down by relentless machine gun fire near St. Etienne, Samuel Sampler charged alone—hurling captured German grenades until the enemy surrendered.
October 8, 2025
Name: Samuel M. Sampler
Rank: Corporal
War: World War I
Date of Action: October 8, 1918
Unit: Company H, 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Division
Entered Service At: Altus, Oklahoma
Born: Decatur, Texas
Summary of Action
As the 36th Division advanced near St. Etienne, France, Corporal Samuel Sampler’s company was raked by enemy machine gun fire from a fortified rise. Men fell all around him, the advance grinding to a halt. Seeing the source of the fire, Sampler seized several German grenades from the battlefield and moved forward alone. Crossing open ground under a storm of bullets, he reached throwing range and began to lob the grenades into the machine gun nest. His first two blasts stunned the defenders; his third landed squarely among them, killing two, silencing the gun, and breaking their nerve. Twenty-eight German soldiers threw down their weapons and surrendered to him. With the nest destroyed and the prisoners sent to the rear, his company surged forward once more. Sampler’s daring, improvised assault turned the tide of the engagement and cleared the way for the 36th Division’s advance.
Medal of Honor Citation
SAMPLER, SAMUEL M.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company H, 142d Infantry, 36th Division. Place and date: Near St. Etienne, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Altus, Okla. Birth: Decatur, Tex. G.O. No.: 59, W.D., 1919. Citation: 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.
