Medal of Honor: Wilbur E. Colyer, World War I, October 9, 1918
Surrounded by hidden machine guns near Verdun, Sergeant Wilbur Colyer turned a captured German weapon against its own gunners—silencing every nest before he fell.
October 9, 2025
Name: Wilbur E. Colyer
Rank: Sergeant
War: World War I
Date of Action: October 9, 1918
Unit: Company A, 1st Engineers, 1st Division
Entered Service At: South Ozone, Long Island, New York
Born: Brooklyn, New York
Summary of Action
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive had entered its deadliest phase when Sergeant Wilbur Colyer, serving with the 1st Engineers, volunteered for a mission few expected him to survive. His unit, advancing near Verdun, had been halted by concealed machine guns firing from multiple directions. Taking two volunteers, Colyer crept ahead through shattered brush and shell craters to locate the enemy emplacements.
Within minutes, the trio was half-surrounded, caught in a crossfire that shredded the earth around them. Colyer spotted one of the guns through the smoke and mud, charged forward, and hurled a captured German grenade into the nest, killing the gunner. Before the enemy could react, he seized the still-smoking machine gun and turned it on the surrounding positions. The weapon rattled to life under his grip, its fire cutting down or scattering the other crews that had ambushed his patrol.
When the last gun fell silent, Colyer returned to his platoon to lead their advance. Shortly afterward, he was killed in action—his gallant stand near Verdun marking the end of a young life but saving countless others. His courage embodied the resolve of the engineers who built and fought side by side with the line infantry of the 1st Division.
Medal of Honor Citation
COLYER, WILBUR E.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 1st Engineers, 1st Division. Place and date: Near Verdun, France, 9 October 1918. Entered service at: South Ozone, Long Island, N.Y. Birth: Brooklyn, N.Y. G.O. No.: 20, W.D., 1919. Citation: Volunteering with 2 other soldiers to locate machinegun nests, Sgt. Colyer advanced on the hostile positions to a point where he was half surrounded by the nests, which were in ambush. He killed the gunner of one gun with a captured German grenade and then turned this gun on the other nests silencing all of them before he returned to his platoon. He was later killed in action.
