Mestrovich did recover and return to the 111th Infantry, but he would not survive the war to receive recognition for his heroic deeds in the streets of Fismette. As the fighting raged in the Meuse Argonne,  Sgt James Mestrovich fell in action on November 4th, 1918, with nearly 50 other men from the 111th, when their battalion encountered a concealed machine gun position during a reconnaissance patrol only days from the end of the war.