O’NEILL SGT. RICHARD W. MEDAL OF HONOR WAR MEMORIAL

Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company D, 165th Infantry, 42d Division. Place and date: On the Ourcq River, France; July 30, 1918. Entered service at: New York, New York. Birth: August 28, 1898; New York, New, York. General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 30 (July 15, 1921).

Citation:

In advance of an assaulting line, he attacked a detachment of about 25 of the enemy. In the ensuing hand-to-hand encounter he sustained pistol wounds, but heroically continued in the advance, during which he received additional wounds: but, with great physical effort, he remained in active command of his detachment. Being again wounded, he was forced by weakness and loss of blood to be evacuated, but insisted upon being taken first to the battalion commander in order to transmit to him valuable information relative to enemy positions and the disposition of our men.