World War II Medal of Honor Recipient. Raised in Snyder, Oklahoma, he entered the US Army from there on January 28, 1941. He served with the 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division throughout WWII, seeing action in North Africa, Sicily, Salerno (all 1943), Anzio and Southern France (1944). At Anzio in March 1944 he received a battlefield commission as First Lieutenant of Fox Company. Treadwell was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions near Nieder-Wurzbach, Germany on March 18, 1945. His citation reads: "Capt. Treadwell (then 1st Lt.), commanding officer of Company F, near Nieder-Wurzbach, Germany, in the Siegfried line, single-handedly captured 6 pillboxes and 18 prisoners. Murderous enemy automatic and rifle fire with intermittent artillery bombardments had pinned down his company for hours at the base of a hill defended by concrete fortifications and interlocking trenches. Eight men sent to attack a single point had all become casualties on the hare slope when Capt. Treadwell, armed with a submachinegun and handgrenades, went forward alone to clear the way for his stalled company. Over the terrain devoid of cover and swept by bullets, he fearlessly advanced, firing at the aperture of the nearest pillbox and, when within range, hurling grenades at it. He reached the pillbox, thrust the muzzle of his gun through the port, and drove 4 Germans out with their hands in the air. A fifth was found dead inside. Waving these prisoners back to the American line, he continued under terrible, concentrated fire to the next pillbox and took it in the same manner. In this fort he captured the commander of the hill defenses, whom he sent to the rear with the other prisoners. Never slackening his attack, he then ran across the crest of the hill to a third pillbox, traversing this distance in full view of hostile machine gunners and snipers. He was again successful in taking the enemy position. The Germans quickly fell prey to his further rushes on 3 more pillboxes in the confusion and havoc caused by his whirlwind assaults and capture of their commander. Inspired by the electrifying performance of their leader, the men of Company F stormed after him and overwhelmed resistance on the entire hill, driving a wedge into the Siegfried line and making it possible for their battalion to take its objective. By his courageous willingness to face nearly impossible odds and by his overwhelming one-man offensive, Capt. Treadwell reduced a heavily fortified, seemingly impregnable enemy sector". Treadwell was seriously wounded soon afterwards and was still recovering when he was promoted to Captain and presented with the CMOH on September 14, 1945. While hospitalized he also met his future wife, Maxine Johnson, an Army nurse. Returning to active duty in 1946, he was promoted to Major in 1950 and Colonel in 1954, after which he held various commands stateside, in the Marshall Islands, and in Germany. During the Vietnam War he served as Chief of Staff of the American Division (1968 to 1969) and Commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade (1969); he made over 100 parachute drops and took part in the Tet Counter-offensive. Treadwell ended his career in 1974 as Senior Advisor to the Army Reserve at Columbia, South Carolina. He died at 58 following open-heart surgery. At the time of his retirement Treadwell was believed to be the most decorated man in the US Armed Forces. Besides the Medal of Honor, he received the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, three awards of the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Soldiers' Medal, Bronze Star with "V" device for valor and two Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with 12 Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Purple Heart with three Oak Leaf Clusters, two awards of the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Senior Parachutist Badge; he was also awarded the French Croix de Guerre with Gold Star, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Gold Star. He is still ranked among the Top 50 Most Highly Decorated US Military Personnel of All Time.