Charles D . Barger Charles Denver Barger ( June 3 , 1892 – November 25 , 1936 ) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military ' s highest decoration , the Medal of Honor , for his actions in World War I . He earned the medal while serving as a Chauchat automatic rifle gunner during the Meuse - Argonne Offensive , when he and another soldier , Jesse N . Funk , entered no man ' s land despite heavy fire and rescued two wounded officers and one enlisted man . Early life . Barger was born in Mount Vernon , Missouri to George and Cora ( Lake ) Staffelbach . In 1897 , his father , a member of the notorious Staffelbach gang from Galena , Kansas , was sentenced to life in prison and his mother gave him up for adoption . He did not see her again until after World War I . He was taken in by Sidney and Phoebe ( Owens ) Barger , who eventually adopted him , and he grew up in Stotts City , working as a farmhand . Military service . On April 1 , 1918 , Barger enlisted in the United States Army in Mt . Vernon and received his Basic Military Training with the 23rd Company , 164th Depot Brigade , at Camp Funston , Kansas . Upon completion of accession training on April 24 , he was assigned to Company L , 354th Infantry Regiment , 89th Division . , which absorbed most of the men from southeastern and eastern Missouri . This regiment arrived in France in June 1918 , and two months later Barger earned promotion to private first class . Having earned the Expert Rifleman Badge during training , he was selected as an automatic rifle gunner upon reaching France . Barger served in the St . Mihiel Offensive , but it was during the Meuse - Argonne Offensive that he really proved his metal . The 177th Brigade , to which he was assigned , was situated on the southwest edge of Bois - de - Bantheville , France , during the last couple of weeks of October 1918 . For more than a week , the enemy fired high - explosive shells , often containing mustard gas , and gas fumes lingered for days . No one escaped the effects , although some suffered more than others and required medical treatment or evacuation . Barger never reported for medical treatment , so was not allotted a wound chevron for his infliction . On October 31 , 1918 , near Bois - de - Bantheville , Barger ' s regiment sent several patrols into no man ' s land to reconnoiter German positions in preparation for an advance as part of the Meuse - Argonne Offensive . Unusually , the patrols had been sent out during daylight , rather than waiting for the cover of darkness . Two patrols from Barger ' s regiment became pinned down by heavy rifle and machine gun fire . Second Lieutenant John M . Millis , of Company L , was seriously wounded in the legs and ordered his men to leave without him . One man managed to crawl to the safety of the Allied lines and brought news that Millis and another wounded officer were trapped in no man ' s land . Upon hearing this , Barger and Private First Class Jesse N . Funk , voluntarily ran through heavy machine gun fire with a stretcher to rescue Millis , but he insisted that First Lieutenant Ernest G . Rowell , of Company I , be rescued first . When they returned to no man ' s land to rescue Millis , they discovered a wounded enlisted man about fifty yards from a machine gun nest , so they returned a third time to rescue him . For these actions , General John J . Pershing presented Barger and Funk the Medal of Honor in February 1919 in Trier , Germany . “ Then there was Charlie Barger , " Funk revealed after the war . " He came from down at Stotts City , Missouri , and he ’ d never had much of a chance in life . He was an automatic Chauchat gunner ; I was his carrier , and I used to write his letters for him and I got to know him pretty well . He was scared , too — just as badly scared as any of us , but he had the grit to put it all behind him , and what was more , he ’ d force it down so far that he could cheer up the other fellows . Believe me , he sure had grit and I ’ m proud to have been the running mate of a man that had as much fight in him as he had . ” Barger was a member of the Occupation forces in Germany after the Armistice was signed in November 1918 , and returned stateside on May 31 , 1919 . He was discharged from the Army on June 3 , and returned to a hero ’ s welcome that was theretofore unprecedented . He was hailed as “ Missouri ’ s greatest hero ” and was , in fact , Missouri ' s most decorated combat soldier of the Great War . Aside from the Medal of Honor and an array of foreign decorations , Barger received ten certificates for distinguished and exceptional gallantry from General Pershing . When the Purple Heart medal was created in 1932 , those bestowed these certificates were entitled to the Purple Heart . Later years and death . Barger returned to farming with his adopted uncle , Henry McFerron , and later as a construction worker in Waco , Missouri , but had a rough time making ends meet . He had difficulty adjusting to civilian life and struggled to stay employed . He was a member of the American Legion , and fellow veterans from that group helped him find work until " the general public and those who could give employment to veterans became apathetic to the appeals for help on the ground [ s that ] he was a national hero " . On January 1 , 1921 , congress approved the recruiting of new soldiers , and he enlisted in Joplin on the tenth . He was assigned as a machine gunner to Company D , 38th Infantry Regiment , 3rd Division , at Camp Pike , Arkansas , until being permanently discharged from the Army on July 15 , 1921 . While stationed in Arkansas , Barger married Audrey E . Hurst in Hardy , Arkansas , on March 2 , 1921 , and on June 6 , 1922 , they had a son named Charles Denver Barger , Jr . This marriage was short - lived , and he went on to marry Ruth Irene Bailey . They had two children , Joseph Elmer Barger , born on January 25 , 1925 , and Mabel Louise " Dodi " Barger , born on April 13 , 1928 . In January 1922 , Barger was hired as a police officer in Kansas City . On February 22 , he and Officer Howard Pollard were dispatched to 1724 Holly Street where two men were involved in bootlegging and one was suspected of murder . The suspects holed up on the second floor of the residence and decided to shoot it out with the officers . Pollard was hit in the arm and went down , and Barger was shot in the left wrist , right arm , chest and head — a total of five times . Nonetheless , he returned fire , shooting one man in the abdomen and hitting the other three times . While the latter fled , the man hit in the abdomen was taken into custody and died from his injury a short while later . Barger recovered from his injuries , but his head wound coupled with the effects of mustard gas and post - traumatic stress eventually took its toll on his physical and mental health . He remained with the police force for twelve years before they left him go with no compensation or pension . For the next few years Barger did whatever he could to make ends meet , but every day was a struggle . He raised rabbits to put meat on the table , planted a garden , and , against everything he believed in , accepted charity from the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars . When all was said and done , those were the only two agencies that stood by him through the years . “ It ’ s fine to have all the medals , ” he lamented , “ but the trouble is you can ’ t eat them . ” In the Spring of 1936 , Barger moved to a farm four miles southwest of Oak Grove , outside of Kansas City , and began working for the Civilian Conservation Corps in Blue Springs . On the night of November 23 , county police were called to his home where they found him wielding a large hunting knife and setting fire to his farmhouse . He had three self - inflicted wounds to his throat , and the deputies reported that " his clothing was torn and his body burned in a dozen places . " When the officers attempted to arrest him for threatening to kill his wife , he lunged at them with the knife . Deputy Frank Ridenour fired in self - defense , inflicting a non - life - threatening wound to Barger ' s right thigh . He was taken to the Kansas City General Hospital and died two days later from third - degree burns to his face and arms . He was buried at Blue Springs Cemetery in Blue Springs , not far from his Oak Grove home . “ That the breakdown was due to his war experience no comrade of Charles Barger would deny , ” a reporter friend wrote after his death . “ Yet through the years every effort made by the veterans ’ organizations to persuade the government that sent him to war to admit responsibility for his mental condition ended in failure . There was no ‘ proof ’ in cold language that his suffering was connected with his service . Charles Barger remained a name and a case number . ” Medal of Honor citation . Rank and organization : Private First Class , U . S . Army , Company L , 354th Infantry , 89th Division . Place and date : Near Bois - deBantheville , France , 31 October 1918 . Entered service at : Stotts City , Mo . Birth : Mount Vernon , Mo . G . O . No . : 20 , W . D . , 1919 . Citation : Learning that 2 daylight patrols had been caught out in No Man ' s Land and were unable to return , Pfc . Barger and another stretcher bearer upon their own initiative made 2 trips 500 yards beyond our lines , under constant machinegun fire , and rescued 2 wounded officers .