On the morning of May 28, 1918, PFC. Daniel Edwards was a machine gunner attached to C.Co, 3rd MG BN, 1st Inf. during an assault near Cantigny, France.
While moving to the assigned position, Edwards was bayonetted in the wrist by a German soldier but established a machine gun nest with his crew. All 3 of his comrades were killed during the course of the day, but Edwards held the post, fighting off repeated enemy attacks that included the use of machine guns and flamethrowers—despite being stabbed in the stomach during one assault.
He received a Silver Star for his actions.
On July 18, Edwards escaped the hospital to re-join his unit during the battle of Soissons.
While spearheading the assault on a German trench, he came up against 8 enemy soldiers. He killed four of them, and the rest surrendered before an artillery shell exploded nearby, trapping his previously injured arm on the trench wall. He severed his right arm with a bolo knife, bandaged the wound, and ordered his prisoners to march toward American lines. The group was hit by a German shell, shattering Edwards’s left leg. He then ordered the German soldiers to carry him and his nuts back to friendly lines.
For his actions on that day, he would receive the Medal of Honor.
Edwards would survive the war and would become one of the most decorated soldiers of WW1.
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