Samuel Woodfill Samuel Woodfill ( January 6 , 1883 – August 10 , 1951 ) was a Major in the United States Army . He was a veteran of the Philippine – American War , World War I , and World War II . Woodfill was one of the most celebrated American soldiers of the early 20th century . General John Pershing called Woodfill the most outstanding soldier in World War I . During an offensive in October 1918 , he single handedly took out three German machine gun emplacements while suffering under the effect of mustard gas , and was able to successfully lead his men safely back to the American lines without casualties . At the end of the conflict , Woodfill was the most decorated American soldier to have participated in the conflict ; he received the Medal of Honor , the Croix de Guerre with palm leaves , the Meriot di Guerra , and the Cross of Prince Danilo among other awards . After returning home at the end of the war , Woodfill took a number of different jobs before starting a career as an insurance salesman . He was among the three soldiers chosen to dedicate the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in 1921 , joining fellow Medal of Honor recipients Charles Whittlesey and Alvin York . At the outbreak of World War II , he was commissioned as a major and spent two years training recruits before resigning from the army after the death of his wife in 1943 . Woodfill retired to a farm near the place of his birth where he lived until his death . He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery . Early life . Samuel Woodfill was born January 6 , 1883 in Bryantsburg , Indiana , the son of John H . Woodfill . His father was a veteran of the Mexican American War and the American Civil War , having served in the 5th Regiment Indiana Infantry . Woodfill learned to hunt at an early age and was a good shot by age ten . He received a basic education in local schools and enlisted in the United States Army in 1901 . Military career . The United States was completing its occupation of the Philippines and Woodfill was dispatched as a private . Woodfill was involved in a number of conflicts with the Filipino guerilla forces . He remained in the Philippines for several years before being transferred to Alaska in 1910 during a border dispute with Canada and Great Britain over a portion of the Yukon . In 1912 he was moved again and stationed in Fort Thomas in Kentucky . In 1913 Woodfill was promoted to lieutenant . The following year he was dispatched as part a of force to guard the Mexican American border during the Mexican Civil War . Their presence was sufficient to halt the cross border violence and he saw no action there . In 1917 his company returned to Fort Thomas . He began courting Lorena Wiltshire and the couple married on December 25 , 1917 . The couple bought a home in the town of Fort Thomas . World War I . At the outbreak of World War I , Woodfill ’ s regiment , the 60th Infantry , was attached to the Army ’ s Fifth Division and dispatched to Europe as part of the American expeditionary force under the command of General John Pershing . Woodfill ’ s regiment was placed in the defenses between Meuse and the Argonne in France in August 1918 . In September a major battle broke out on the front that lasted for forty - five days and left tens of thousands dead . On the morning of October 12 Woodfill and his company were stationed near Cunel when his men were advancing through thick fog . As they moved forward machine gun fire broke out from German held positions targeting Woodfill and his men . While the other men took cover , Woodfill quickly advanced on the machine gun emplacement while avoiding being hit . As he approached the emplacement he opened fire disabling three German soldiers . A German officer rushed Woodfill and engaged him in hand to hand combat , but Woodfill gained the advantage and killed him . With the threat removed , Woodfill signaled for his company to advance when a second machine gun opened fire . Woodfill ordered his men to charge the emplacement which was quickly overran and three Germans captured . His men again resumed their advance only to have a third machine gun open fire . Woodfill ordered another charge . As he approached the machine gun he opened fire with his rifle disabling five German soldiers . Woodfill was first to reach the gun emplacement and entered the bunker pit . He discharged all the shots in his pistol without hitting either of the two soldiers manning the position . He then seized a nearby pick axe and clubbed the two soldiers to death . Mustard gas had become heavy in the area during the fighting and Woodfill and his men began to suffer under its effect . As the its effects worsened , Woodfill ordered his men to withdraw to the allied battle line . None of his men died in the fierce fighting , but several , including Woodfill , were hospitalized in Bordeaux after their retreat . Woodfill saw no more action for the remainder of the war and remained in medical care for several weeks while he received treatment for the effects of the poisonous gas . His heroics earned him a number of medals and awards , but he would suffer from weakened lungs for the rest of his life . Considered to be World War I ' s most decorated soldier , Woodfill received , among others , the Medal of Honor ( presented by General Pershing ) , the French Croix de Guerre with palm , Italy ' s Meriot di Guerra and the Cross of Prince Danilo , First Class , and also made a Chevalier of the ( French ) Legion of Honor . Along with Alvin York and others , Woodfill was picked in 1921 to serve as a pallbearer for the Unknown Soldier . He was regarded as one of the country ' s great heroes of World War I , but apparently struggled to make a living after the war . Despite his honors , Woodfill - on a sergeant ' s salary - struggled to pay his bills and to pay off the mortgage on his Fort Thomas home . Woodfill took a job in 1922 as a $ 6 - a - day carpenter working on the Ohio River dam project at Silver Grove . Ned Hastings , manager of the Keith Theater in Cincinnati , sent pictures of Woodfill working at the dam site to New York . There , a theatrical group involved in charitable work raised money to pay off the mortgage on Woodfill ' s Fort Thomas home and to pay up an insurance policy . Later life . In 1924 an effort was made by some independent Democrats to encourage Woodfill to run for the United States Congress and challenge Democrat incumbent Arthur B . Rouse . A Kentucky Post account on April 16 , 1924 , said Woodfill had expressed an interest in Congress while attending a reception in Washington , D . C . , three years before during the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier . When Woodfill was proposed as a candidate for Congress , he was out of town doing promotional work for American Legion posts in Massachusetts . Mrs . Woodfill , contacted at her home in Fort Thomas , downplayed the idea . She said when her husband was first contacted to participate in the dedication event , he had expressed reluctance , saying , " I ' m tired of being a circus pony . Every time there is something doing they trot me out to perform . " Mrs . Woodfill said her husband disliked public events because he was basically a bashful person who did not enjoy the glare of public attention . She added , though , " My husband may not have the education of a lawyer , scholar or the like , but if reputation , honesty , service and truth were the only requisite , he is amply qualified to fill the high position to which his friends would elect him . " Upon his return to Northern Kentucky , Woodfill quickly put an end to candidate speculation , saying he wanted no part of elected office . Locally , Woodfill remained a celebrity . In October 1924 , a life - size painting of Woodfill was presented to Woodfill Elementary School by Mrs . Woodfill . The painting was to hang in the school along with copies of his citations and a brief history of his life . And in October 1928 , Woodfill and his wife were the special guests of honor at the Greater Cincinnati Industrial Exposition . That account said Woodfill was living in retirement on a farm in Campbell County . A later account said Woodfill had purchased about of farm land between Silver Grove and Flagg Springs in rural Campbell County in 1925 , with the vision of planting apple and peach trees . A report on July 24 , 1929 , said many of the trees died , so Woodfill purchased more trees . The account said he worked hard trying to make the orchard into a paying business , but the orchard never became a success . By 1929 Woodfill found himself with a $ 2 , 000 debt . To keep from losing the farm , the 46 - year - old Woodfill took a job as a watchman at the Newport Rolling Mill on July 15 , 1929 - working daily 2 - 11 p . m . Woodfill was still working as a guard at the Andrews Steel plant in Newport and living at his home in Fort Thomas when the U . S . entered World War II , after the bombing of Pearl Harbor . In May 1942 , Woodfill and Alvin C . York - himself a highly - decorated World War I veteran from Tennessee - were commissioned Army majors . Woodfill told a Kentucky Times - Star reporter at the time he was not aware the Army was going to give him the commission , which he termed a pleasant surprise . Woodfill was 59 and the Army commissions were part of a national campaign to boost national spirit and enlistments . Woodfill was later featured in an Army publicity picture , which showed him firing a rifle at Fort Benning , Georgia . Woodfill apparently spent most of the war as an instructor in Birmingham , Alabama . His wife Lorena died March 26 , 1942 , at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati . One account said she was buried in Falmouth . In 1944 , Woodfill again resigned from the Army , and he retired to a farm near Vevay in Switzerland County , Indiana . Because his wife was dead , Woodfill decided not to return to Fort Thomas . In a 1978 " Kentucky Post " story , Agatha Sackstedder , who grew up in a house across the street from the Woodfills , described Mrs . Woodfill as tall and elegant . She added that cookies and a big bowl of fresh fruit were always on the family table . She said the Woodfills had no children and Mrs . Woodfill seemed to enjoy having a young girl visit her . Mrs . Sackstedder described Woodfill as a strong looking , very tall man with a ruddy , happy looking face . Woodfill was found dead at the Indiana farm on August 13 , 1951 , at the age of 68 . He apparently had died of natural causes several days before he was found . Neighbors said they had not missed him because he had talked of going to Cincinnati to buy plumbing supplies . Despite his Indiana roots , a " Kentucky Post " editorial on August 15 , 1951 , called Woodfill " one of the greatest soldiers produced by the Bluegrass state . " Woodfill was buried in the Jefferson County Cemetery near Madison , Indiana . But through the efforts of Indiana Congressman Earl Wilson , Woodfill ' s body was removed and buried at Arlington National Cemetery in August 1955 . His grave can be found in Section 34 , Grave 642 . Honors and awards . Military decorations . Medal of Honor citation . An accomplished sharpshooter , Woodfill earned the Medal of Honor for actions on October 12 , 1918 . He singlehandedly disabled several German machine - gun nests and killed many enemy combatants with rifle , pistol and pickaxe . Citation : While he was leading his company against the enemy , his line came under heavy machinegun fire , which threatened to hold up the advance . Followed by 2 soldiers at , this officer went out ahead of his first line toward a machinegun nest and worked his way around its flank , leaving the 2 soldiers in front . When he got within of the gun it ceased firing , and 4 of the enemy appeared , 3 of whom were shot by 1st Lt . Woodfill . The fourth , an officer , rushed at 1st Lt . Woodfill , who attempted to club the officer with his rifle . After a hand - to - hand struggle , 1st Lt . Woodfill killed the officer with his pistol . His company thereupon continued to advance , until shortly afterwards another machinegun nest was encountered . Calling on his men to follow , 1st Lt . Woodfill rushed ahead of his line in the face of heavy fire from the nest , and when several of the enemy appeared above the nest he shot them , capturing 3 other members of the crew and silencing the gun . A few minutes later this officer for the third time demonstrated conspicuous daring by charging another machinegun position , killing 5 men in one machinegun pit with his rifle . He then drew his revolver and started to jump into the pit , when 2 other gunners only a few yards away turned their gun on him . Failing to kill them with his revolver , he grabbed a pick lying nearby and killed both of them . Inspired by the exceptional courage displayed by this officer , his men pressed on to their objective under severe shell and machinegun fire . Other honors . An elementary school in Ft . Thomas , Kentucky is named for him and in 2009 , the Indiana War Memorial renamed a meeting room in honor of him . See also . An analysis of Lt Sam Woodfill ' s action at Cunel using aerial photos : http : / / www . flickr . com / photos / 82596826 @ N03 / 7765126436 /