Jesse Nathaniel Funk

Corporal, U.S. Army

Medal of Honor Recipient

World War I

Corporal Jesse Nathaniel Funk (20 August 1888 - 21 March 1933) was a U.S. Army soldier who received the U.S. military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his heroic actions during World War I.

Jesse Nathaniel Funk was born on 20 August 1888 in New Hampton, MO. Funk later moved to Calhan, CO, where he worked as a rancher. He married and had one daughter before being drafted into the U.S. Army at Calhan.

After training at Camp Funston in Kansas, Funk was sent to Europe with the 354th Infantry Regiment, 89th Division. He saw action in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and on 31 October 1918, he was a Private First Class serving as a stretcher bearer in Company L, 354th Regiment. Near Bois-de-Bantheville, France, that day Funk's division 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 Funk's regiment became pinned down by heavy rifle and machine gun fire. Second Lieutenant John M. Millis 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, Funk and another stretcher bearer, Private First Class Charles D. Barger, voluntarily ran 500 yards through heavy machine gun fire with their stretcher and rescued Millis. They then returned and rescued the other officer, First Lieutenant Ernest G. Rowell. For these actions, both Funk and Barger were awarded the Medal of Honor the next year. These were the only Medals of Honor received by Army medical personnel in World War I.

Medal of Honor

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.

Citation: Learning that 2 daylight patrols had been caught out in No Man's Land and were unable to return, Pfc. Funk 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.

Funk reached the rank of Corporal before leaving the Army.

Death and Burial

Corporal Jesse Nathaniel Funk died on 21 March 1933 at age 44. He is buried at Calhan Cemetery in Calhan, CO.