- Rank at action
- Sergeant
- Service
- U.S. Marine Corps
- Conflict
- World War I
- Unit or command
- 66th Rifle Company, 5th Regiment, 2d Division
- Presentation date
- December 31, 1919
Army Medal of Honor: When his company, advancing through a wood, met with strong resistance from an enemy strong point, Sgt. Cukela crawled out from the flank and made his way toward the German lines in the face of heavy fire, disregarding the warnings of his comrades. He succeeded in getting behind the enemy position and rushed a machine-gun emplacement, killing or driving off the crew with his bayonet. With German hand grenades he then bombed out the remaining portion of the strong point, capturing four men and two damaged machine guns.
Preserved earlier transcription
When his company, advancing through a wood, met with strong resistance from an enemy strong point, Sgt. Cukela crawled out from the flank and made his way toward the German lines in the face of heavy fire, disregarding the warnings of his comrades. He succeeded in getting behind the enemy position and rushed a machinegun emplacement, killing or driving off the crew with his bayonet. With German handgrenades he then bombed out the remaining portion of the strong point, capturing 4 men and 2 damaged machineguns.
SECOND AWARD
For extraordinary heroism while serving with the 66th Company, 5th Regiment, during action in the Forest de Retz, near Viller-Cottertes, France, 18 July 1918. Sgt. Cukela advanced alone against an enemy strong point that was holding up his line. Disregarding the warnings of his comrades, he crawled out from the flank in the face of heavy fire and worked his way to the rear of the enemy position. Rushing a machinegun emplacement, he killed or drove off the crew with his bayonet, bombed out the remaining part of the strong point with German handgrenades and captured 2 machineguns and 4 men.
Sources & record notes
General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.
- Louis Cukela — current Society profile (Army Medal of Honor) ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-30
current identity, service, action metadata, award multiplicity, and citation comparison
Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
- Award ID
- MOH-AW-001948
- Transcription status
- Current-profile multi-award transcription
- Last source check
- 2026-08-30
- Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
- 34
- Later or highest recorded rank
- Major
- Entered service at
- Minneapolis, Minn.
- Accredited to
- Minnesota
- Archive transcription SHA-256
- afecb5fb63eb1713f9f2c610c3a2bc769a4b477d809d379b026e6009e737f145
Legacy combined-row transcription preserved; separately documented current awards transcribed as distinct canonical award records.
The inherited row combines Louis Cukela’s Army and Navy Medals of Honor for the same deed. It is expanded into two separately linked canonical awards under one recipient identity; the inherited combined citation is retained in full. The current profile supplies rank at time of action as Sergeant; the inherited rank field remains preserved as None. The current profile records later or highest rank Major; it is stored separately from rank at time of action. The current source records 66th Rifle Company, 5th Regiment, 2d Division; the inherited unit field 66th Company, 5th Regiment remains preserved as a source variant. The current historical action-place wording replaces only the controlled canonical geocoder field; the complete inherited place remains preserved. The current authoritative profile classifies the action under World War I; the inherited unclassified value remains preserved in the audit record.
- Rank at action
- Sergeant
- Service
- U.S. Marine Corps
- Conflict
- World War I
- Unit or command
- 66th Company, 5th Regiment, 2d Division
- Presentation date
- December 31, 1919
Navy Medal of Honor: For extraordinary heroism while serving with the 66th Company, 5th Regiment, during action in the Forest de Retz, near Viller-Cottertes, France, 18 July 1918. Sgt. Cukela advanced alone against an enemy strong point that was holding up his line. Disregarding the warnings of his comrades, he crawled out from the flank in the face of heavy fire and worked his way to the rear of the enemy position. Rushing a machine-gun emplacement, he killed or drove off the crew with his bayonet, bombed out the remaining part of the strong point with German hand grenades, and captured two machine guns and four men.
Preserved earlier transcription
When his company, advancing through a wood, met with strong resistance from an enemy strong point, Sgt. Cukela crawled out from the flank and made his way toward the German lines in the face of heavy fire, disregarding the warnings of his comrades. He succeeded in getting behind the enemy position and rushed a machinegun emplacement, killing or driving off the crew with his bayonet. With German handgrenades he then bombed out the remaining portion of the strong point, capturing 4 men and 2 damaged machineguns.
SECOND AWARD
For extraordinary heroism while serving with the 66th Company, 5th Regiment, during action in the Forest de Retz, near Viller-Cottertes, France, 18 July 1918. Sgt. Cukela advanced alone against an enemy strong point that was holding up his line. Disregarding the warnings of his comrades, he crawled out from the flank in the face of heavy fire and worked his way to the rear of the enemy position. Rushing a machinegun emplacement, he killed or drove off the crew with his bayonet, bombed out the remaining part of the strong point with German handgrenades and captured 2 machineguns and 4 men.
Sources & record notes
General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.
- Louis Cukela — current Society profile (Navy Medal of Honor) ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-30
current identity, service, action metadata, award multiplicity, and citation comparison
Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
- Award ID
- MOH-AW-001949
- Transcription status
- Current-profile multi-award transcription
- Last source check
- 2026-08-30
- Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
- 34
- Later or highest recorded rank
- Major
- Entered service at
- Minneapolis, Minn.
- Accredited to
- Minnesota
- Archive transcription SHA-256
- 741b564d2f6f0cce8a44be358d57d8649064d59af22c5225fbb787cfd6b450ad
Legacy combined-row transcription preserved; separately documented current awards transcribed as distinct canonical award records.
The inherited row combines Louis Cukela’s Army and Navy Medals of Honor for the same deed. It is expanded into two separately linked canonical awards under one recipient identity; the inherited combined citation is retained in full. The current profile supplies rank at time of action as Sergeant; the inherited rank field remains preserved as None. The current profile records later or highest rank Major; it is stored separately from rank at time of action. The current source records 66th Rifle Company, 5th Regiment, 2d Division; the inherited unit field 66th Company, 5th Regiment remains preserved as a source variant. The current historical action-place wording replaces only the controlled canonical geocoder field; the complete inherited place remains preserved. The current authoritative profile classifies the action under World War I; the inherited unclassified value remains preserved in the audit record.
