WWI · Battle Death Record
Matej Kocak
Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps · New York
Medal of Honor
Personnel File — Core Information
- Name
- Matej Kocak
- Entered the Service From
- New York
- Rank
- Sergeant
- Service
- U.S. Marine Corps
- Unit / Regiment
- 66th Company, 5th Marine Regiment, 2nd Division
- War
- WWI
- Date of Death
- October 4, 1918
- Awards
- Medal of Honor (Army), Medal of Honor (Navy), Silver Star, Purple Heart, French Medaille militaire, Croix de guerre, Italian Croce al Merito di Guerra
- Burial / Memorial
- Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial, Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, France
- Grave
- Plot D, Row 41, Grave 32
Their story
During the Battle of Soissons on July 18, 1918, Sergeant Kocak single-handedly attacked and wiped out an enemy machine-gun nest, then rallied and led French colonial troops in a successful assault on another enemy position, for which he received both the Army and Navy Medals of Honor. He was killed in action by enemy gunfire at the Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge in France on October 4, 1918.
Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.
This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.