World War I Medal of Honor Recipient. He received the award posthumously (presented to his father) at Governor Island, Manhattan, New York for his actions as a sergeant with Company M, 312th Infantry, 78th Infantry Division, US Army, on October 26, 1918, at the Battle of Grand-Pre, France. Born to Jewish parents, he joined the US Army in 1917 and was sent to the Western Front in France. It was during the Allied Meuse-Argonne Offensive (the final European campaign of World War I) that his gallant humanitarian deed won him the Medal of Honor. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "Hearing a wounded man in a shell hole some distance away calling for water, Sgt. Sawelson, upon his own initiative, left shelter and crawled through heavy machine-gun fire to where the man lay, giving him what water he had in his canteen. He then went back to his own shell hole, obtained more water, and was returning to the wounded man when he was killed by a machine-gun bullet."
World War I Medal of Honor Recipient. He received the award posthumously (presented to his father) at Governor Island, Manhattan, New York for his actions as a sergeant with Company M, 312th Infantry, 78th Infantry Division, US Army, on October 26, 1918, at the Battle of Grand-Pre, France. Born to Jewish parents, he joined the US Army in 1917 and was sent to the Western Front in France. It was during the Allied Meuse-Argonne Offensive (the final European campaign of World War I) that his gallant humanitarian deed won him the Medal of Honor. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "Hearing a wounded man in a shell hole some distance away calling for water, Sgt. Sawelson, upon his own initiative, left shelter and crawled through heavy machine-gun fire to where the man lay, giving him what water he had in his canteen. He then went back to his own shell hole, obtained more water, and was returning to the wounded man when he was killed by a machine-gun bullet."
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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