Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1922-01-06

service entitle him to retirement Also tbe mil,
tary authorities have practically picked him ont n,
the greatest fighting man of the A. f. r So #
would seem as If America could do no less than
'hs Tor her nero of herOeS"-a "Reguar' of
Inc United States army and professional soldier
anyway Senator Richard =. Ernst of Kentucky
mas introduced such Il bin in the senate And
Representative Roy o. Woodruff of Michigan has
done the same in the house
Representative John s. Benham NJ indiana
started the movement in the house You 500 no
was proud as peacock because Sergeant Wood
Hi enlisted In 1901 from his dStrict-the fourth
REMAIN had the clerk read a paragraph from,
General Order No. 16, bearing date of ,Januarv
-, 1919, and signed by Gen. Peyton G Morot
chief Of staff-Leutenant Woodfus citation M
companying his award of the Congressional ,fednI
of Honor.
Benham also put into the Congressional PaoorI
W0odhlls army record in full from his enIist,nen,
in 1901
Then Woodruff of Michigan, who was mo,o-
OF Infantry in France and at one time after tbo
Arinstice, was W0odfl's commanding officer voo
given the floor As a preliminary to giving notca
that he would introduce the bill mentioned In
the foregoing, he set forth his frst-hand KNOWLEDGE
of WoodfilIs efficiency as "A lieutenant in the Bor.
deauX embarkation camp and related how he re.
Honor at Chaumont without opening his mouth
about 1t. Excellent" behavior efficiency and mod.
esty bulk large in Woodflls makeup
The presentation at Chaumont took place on
the quadrangle British G. II. @ on Sunday at 40
before n large crowd of American British French
Belgian NBd italian officers. Headquarters bat
Tailor acted as guard Of honor Woodfll received
other awards in addition to the Congressional
Medal of Honor He received the Legion Of Honor
at the hands of the high admiral Of the French
navy and Mai Gen. Hanson f. Ely presented to
him the Croix de Guerre. with pam) Later he
was awarded the Legion Of Honor and the Order
OF Prince Danilo (MontenegrO). He also wears
the Victory Medal with three clasps, the Philippine
and Mexican border ribbons and an expert rife
mans medal ~
Notwithstanding WoodflIs exploit and his cita-
tions he remained undiscovered as the hero OF
heroes And Woodfll certainly didn't help along
the discovery When he went to Louisville with
returning troops in the summer of 1919 real SOL
dier and n real hero at last after all the event
full years that had passed since he enlisted there
In 1901. there were thousands hungry for such
tale of the war that Woodf held in his bosom
But Woodfu didn't tell It. He went quietly about
his work and returned to his command When
he was discharged as IN officer, he kept to the
habit he had followed from his Philippine days
He re.enlisted ut about SS4 a month.
Then came the preparations for the burial of
the unknown soldier at Washington on Armis-
tce day
The board of army officers, searching the rec
ords for the purpose of selecting a soldier from
the infantry TO act as body-bearer for the I'm.
known dead. picked Sergeant Woodfll When the
name was sent to Pershng, the commander of the
A. Il. r. exclaimed: why, have already picked
that man as the greatest single hero in the Amerl-
can forces"
General Pershng's report on the heroes and sol.
oiers In the World war contains this mention of
Woodh's deed, given the place of honor over two
cases of distinguished herolsm which already have
received Americas recognition:
.Deeds of valor were too numerous to mention
here. Outstanding was the herosm of Lieutenant
Samuel Woodfll Fifth division, In attacking single.
handed series of German machine gun nests near
Cunel and killing the crews of each in turn until
reduced to the necessity Of assaulting the last de.
tachment with pick dispatchng them ALL And