Francis Asbury Awl – Major, United States Army

Frank Asbury Awl of Pennsylvania
Private, Governor’s Troop of Pennsylvania Cavalry, 28 April to 21 November 1898
Second Lieutenant, 6th U. S. Infantry, 1 December 1899
First Lieutenant, 24 September 1901
Transferred to 15th U. S. Infantry, 24 October 1902

AWL, FRANCIS A
Captain, U.S. Army
Home: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
315th Infantry Regiment, 79th Division, A.E.F.
Date of Action: September 26 – 29, 1918
General Orders No. No. 38, W.D., 1922

Citation:

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Francis A. Awl, Captain, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action during the Meuse- Argonne offensive, September 26 – 29, 1918.

On September 26, when a portion of his company had been pocketed on a ridge and subjected to enfilade fire of the enemy’s machine guns and snipers, disregarding his own safety, Captain Awl crawled into the open on the exposed flank and, by engaging the enemy, enabled his men to withdraw, thereby saving a great loss of life and permitting the unit to reform for a further advance. Later he repeatedly led successful attacks against superior numbers and machine-gun nests. While in an attack on September 29 he was severely wounded and refused to be evacuated until forced to do so.

AWL, FRANCIS ASBURY
INF USA

• DATE OF DEATH: 03/26/1936
• BURIED AT: SECTION 6  SITE 9338
  ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard