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First Name: Earle

Last Name: Gregory

Birthplace: Clayville, VA, USA

Gender: Male

Branch: Army (1784 - present)



Home of Record: Chase City, VA
Middle Name: Davis



Date of Birth: 18 October 1897

Date of Death: 06 January 1972

Rank: Sergeant

Years Served:
Earle Davis Gregory

   
Engagements:
•  World War I (1914 - 1918)

Biography:

Earle Davis Gregory

Sergeant, U.S. Army

Medal of Honor Recipient

World War I

Sergeant Earle Davis Gregory (18 October 1897 - 6 January 1972) 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.

Earle Davis Gregory was born in Clayville, VA, on 18 October 1897. He was a native of Chase City, VA, and a graduate of Fork Union Military Academy. Earle Gregory entered Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1919 with the Class of 1923. While at VPI, he studied Electrical Engineering. During his senior year, he served as a company commander and President of the Corps of Cadets. He was voted Most Popular Cadet by his peers during his senior year.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Chase City, VA, during World War I. Earle Gregory received the Medal of Honor for actions as a Sergeant with Headquarters Company, 116th Infantry, 29th Division, during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He is considered to be the first Virginian to receive the Medal and is often called the "Sergeant York of Virginia." On 8 October 1918, at Bois-de-Consenvoye, north of Verdun, France, he seized a rifle and trench-mortar shell, which he used as a hand grenade. Shouting "I will get them," he left his detachment of the trench-mortar platoon, and advancing ahead of the infantry, captured a machinegun and three of the enemy. Advancing still farther from the machinegun nest, he captured a 7.5-centimeter mountain howitzer and, entering a dugout in the immediate vicinity, single-handedly captured 19 of the enemy.

Medal of Honor

Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Headquarters Company, 116th Infantry, 29th Division.

Place and date: At Bois-de-Consenvoye, north of Verdun, France, 8 October 1918.

Citation: With the remark "I will get them," Sgt. Gregory seized a rifle and a trench-mortar shell, which he used as a handgrenade, left his detachment of the trench-mortar platoon, and advancing ahead of the infantry, captured a machinegun and 3 of the enemy. Advancing still farther from the machinegun nest, he captured a 7.5-centimeter mountain howitzer and, entering a dugout in the immediate vicinity, single-handedly captured 19 of the enemy.

Major General Omar Bundy presented Gregory his medal in a ceremony at Camp Lee, VA, on 29 April 1919.

Medals and Awards

Medal of Honor
Croix de Guerre
Legion of Honor
Medaille Militaire
Montengrin Order of Merit

Honors

The Virginia Tech precision military marching unit, The Gregory Guard, was named in honor of Sergeant Gregory in May 1963.

Death and Burial

Sergeant Earle Davis Gregory died at his home in Tuscaloosa, AL, on 6 January 1972. He is buried at the Tuscaloosa Memorial Park in Tuscaloosa, AL, in Section 18, Lot 60.



Honoree ID: 1765   Created by: MHOH

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