Matej Kocak
| Matej Kocak | |
|---|---|
 .png)
Army and Navy Medal of Honor recipient
|
|
| Born |
December 3, 1882 Gbely, Slovakia |
| Died | October 4, 1918 (aged 35) KIA at Champagne, France |
| Place of burial | Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial Romagne, France |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/branch |
 United States Marine Corps
|
| Years of service | 1907-1918 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit | 5th Marine Regiment |
| Battles/wars |
Battle of Belleau Wood Battle of Soissons Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge |
| Awards |
Medal of Honor (1 Army, 1 Navy) Silver Star (2) Purple Heart |
Matej Kocak (December 3, 1882 - October 4, 1918), a United States Marine Corps sergeant, was posthumously awarded both the Army and Navy Medals of Honor, for "heroism above and beyond the call of duty" in action against the enemy on July 18, 1918. Less than three months after his act of heroism he was killed in action by enemy gunfire in the Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge in France while serving as a member of the 66th Company, 5th Regiment.
Matej Kocak was born in Egbell, Kingdom of Hungary (today Gbely, Slovakia), in 1882. He emigrated to the United States in 1906, and on October 16, 1907, enlisted in the Marine Corps in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and began his 11-year Marine Corps career at Marine Barracks, League Island, Pennsylvania. He was discharged on October 16, 1911, at the expiration of his first enlistment but reenlisted in New York City on December 26, 1911 and was assigned to the Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, New York, for duty. For some time he lived in Binghamton, New York, where a large Slovak community used to live. He was member of Slovak Catholic Sokol in this town.
During his second enlistment, he served with the U.S. Army at Verz Cruz, Mexico, from April 30, to November 23, 1914. His enlistment ended on December 25, 1915, at Marine Barracks, New York, New York, but he again reenlisted and transferred to Marine Barracks, Naval Station, New Orleans, Louisiana.
The following year, he was ashore in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where he participated in skirmishes with native bandits in Las Canitas, Azua Province, Dominican Republic. Appointed to the rank of corporal March 23, 1917, he then returned to the United States where he joined the 12th Company at Quantico, Virginia.
...
Wikipedia