Jack Lemaster Treadwell, Col.

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Captain (Infantry), [then First Lieutenant] Jack LeMaster Treadwell (ASN: 0-1703018), United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty on 18 March 1945, while serving with Company F, 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. Captain Treadwell, commanding officer of Company F, near Nieder-Wurzbach, Germany, in the Siegfried line, single-handedly captured six pillboxes and 18 prisoners. Murderous enemy automatic and rifle fire with intermittent artillery bombardments had pinned down his company for hours at the base of a hill defended by concrete fortifications and interlocking trenches. Eight men sent to attack a single point had all become casualties on the hard slope when Captain Treadwell, armed with a submachine gun and hand grenades, went forward alone to clear the way for his stalled company. Over the terrain devoid of cover and swept by bullets, he fearlessly advanced, firing at the aperture of the nearest pillbox and, when within range, hurling grenades at it. He reached the pillbox, thrust the muzzle of his gun through the port, and drove four Germans out with their hands in the air. A fifth was found dead inside. Waving these prisoners back to the American line, he continued under terrible, concentrated fire to the next pillbox and took it in the same manner. In this fort he captured the commander of the hill defenses, whom he sent to the rear with the other prisoners. Never slackening his attack, he then ran across the crest of the hill to a third pillbox, traversing this distance in full view of hostile machine gunners and snipers. He was again successful in taking the enemy position. The Germans quickly fell prey to his further rushes on three more pillboxes in the confusion and havoc caused by his whirlwind assaults and capture of their commander. Inspired by the electrifying performance of their leader, the men of Company F stormed after him and overwhelmed resistance on the entire hill, driving a wedge into the Siegfried line and making it possible for their battalion to take its objective. By his courageous willingness to face nearly impossible odds and by his overwhelming one-man offensive, Captain Treadwell reduced a heavily fortified, seemingly impregnable enemy sector.

General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 79 (September 14, 1945)

Action Date: 18-Mar-45

Service: Army

Rank: Captain

Company: Company F

Regiment: 180th Infantry Regiment

Division: 45th Infantry Division